The Ministry of Finance and the Public Service will host its third Staff Health Expo on January 12. The event, which is slated for the Ministry’s parking lot at National Heroes Circle in Kingston beginning 10:00 a.m., is intended to cater to the overall well-being of the Ministry’s staff complement of approximately 600. Corporate Communications and Public Relations Director, Shelly-Ann...

Ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) are encouraged to contact the Strategic Workforce, Planning and Improvement Branch at the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service for assistance in developing workforce plans. Director for the Talent and Knowledge Management Portfolio, Collette Cummings McCausland, told JIS News that although the branch is “fairly new” it is on hand to provide the necessary...

Bank of Jamaica’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), at its meetings on 18 and 19 December 2023, unanimously agreed to maintain: (i) the policy interest rate (the rate offered to deposit-taking institutions (DTIs) on overnight placements with Bank of Jamaica) at 7.0 per cent, (ii) tight Jamaican dollar liquidity conditions, and (iii) relative stability in the foreign exchange market. Jamaica’s annual...

At its meetings on 18 and 19 December 2023, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) noted the following: 1.      Jamaica’s annual headline inflation rate at November 2023 of 6.3 per cent, which was outside the Bank’s target range of 4.0 to 6.0 per cent, was above the 5.1 per cent recorded at October 2023 but was much lower than the peak rate...

Jamaica is now either fully or partially compliant with 37 of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) 40 Recommendations. The recommendations constitute the international standards by which jurisdictions’ preventative measures to combat the risks posed by criminals to launder the proceeds of crime and finance terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction are assessed. Providing the update in the...

Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) is reminding business persons that Consumption Taxes for the month of November are due on Friday December 29, 2023, to include GCT, SCT, TCT and GART. This is in keeping with the requirement for these taxpayers to make their monthly Consumption Tax Returns and payments on the last working day of the month, after the end...

At the December 6, 2023 meeting of the Financial Policy Committee (FPC) of Bank of Jamaica, 10 Cyber Resilience Principles were approved by the FPC, on the recommendation of the Financial System Stability Committee (FSSC). The Cyber Resilience Principles are: (1) Not Just an IT Issue, (2) Legal Basis, (3) Adequate Attention on Agenda, (4) Accountability with Expertise, (5) Transparent,...