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Minister Without Portfolio in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, Senator Dwight Nelson, has refuted media reports this morning of a decision by Government to freeze public sector salaries for the 2009/10 fiscal year, starting in April. Addressing today's (Feb. 11) post-Cabinet media briefing, at Jamaica House, Senator Nelson said that he made no such statement. He added...

Benefits available through the People's Cooperative Bank and the Portland Cooperative Credit Union, were extensively discussed at a community meeting sponsored by the Port Antonio Regional Office of the Jamaica Information Service(JIS), at the Boston Community Centre on Thursday (February 5). The meeting sensitised residents of Boston and surrounding communities, about how to access membership in financial institutions, and the...

The Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) is in the final stages of drafting a report on the issue of campaign funding for political parties, Chairman, Professor Errol Miller, has disclosed. Speaking at a briefing at the ECJ's New Kingston offices on Wednesday (Feb. 4), Professor Miller said work on a draft report had been undertaken, following a series of town...

The Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC), has said that there is already a high level of interest and positive feedback from the small business community about the recent roll out of the $150 million loan facility instituted by Government for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). "The interest has been extremely high.up to 200 persons had shown an interest...

Executive Director of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), Rohan Barnett, has said that the insurance industry was an excellent avenue for economic growth. Addressing Guardian Life Insurance Limited's 'Stars Luncheon' at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston on February 3, Mr. Barnett said that the industry was well developed, in terms of international standards and contribution to Gross Domestic Product...

Prime Minister, Bruce Golding, has defended the Government's decision to cut expenditure in a number of areas, noting that the Government had to contain spending in light of serious economic challenges. "We are not making any apologies about it," the Prime Minister said in his contribution to the debate on the first Supplementary Estimates of Expenditure in the House of...

Executive Director of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), Rohan Barnett, has said that Jamaica must use the period of the global economic slowdown to work to transform the economy and position the country on a path towards sustained growth. Mr. Barnett, who was representing Finance and Public Service Minister, Audley Shaw, at Guardian Life Insurance Limited's 'Stars Luncheon' at the...

Executive Director of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), Rohan Barnett, has attributed the insulation of Jamaica's financial services sector from the contagion of the global economic downturn to the industry's regulatory framework. He said that the nature of the regulatory framework prevented the compromising of local institutions, consequent on the downturn which has resulted in the downfall of international financial...

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, Senator Don Wehby, is optimistic that the reform measures currently being pursued by the Government, will yield economic growth for Jamaica. He was outlining the policy reform measures, for which the administration has secured US$100 million from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), during the signing of the agreement...

Funding for the Government's fiscal and debt sustainability initiatives has been boosted by a US$100 million (J$8.5 billion) policy-based loan, from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). The facility will increase the support being provided to the administration by fellow multilateral funding agencies, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and the World Bank, in the area of policy reform. Finance and the...

Commissioner of Customs, Danville Walker, has supported the decision to convert the department into an Executive Agency, but is concerned about the direction of the current agencies. "My position is, I fully support the idea of Customs becoming an Executive Agency. In fact, when I was making a decision in my mind to come to Customs, it was the single...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Audley Shaw, has warned public sector entities against holding on to foreign exchange and contributing to the pressure on the local currency. "We have too many public sector bodies that are out there competing for dollars in an uncoordinated way. We are going to draw them up. We are going to straighten them...