There is heightening anticipation for this year’s renewal of the public sector debate competition, for which prizes totalling $2.5 million have been announced. The 2023 competition, which is being staged by the Transformation Implementation Unit (TIU), was launched on Friday (March 31) at the Spanish Court Hotel in New Kingston. A total of 20 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of...

Minister with Responsibility for Information, Hon. Robert Morgan, is assuring teachers that the compensation review exercise being done by Government is for the long-term benefit of all public-sector workers. In a discussion with educators at a Mathematics Week expo at the Prospect Primary School in Clarendon on Thursday (March 30), the Minister pointed out that the review has simplified Government’s...

The Senate has approved the Companies (Amendment) Act, 2023, which will enable Jamaica to meet international obligations in countering money laundering and combatting the financing of terrorism. The Bill was approved without amendments, today (March 31). It aims to address three of the four outstanding actions agreed in Jamaica’s action plan with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for the...

The Government continues to implement strategies aimed at suppressing organised crime and money laundering, and countering terrorism financing. The move is part of efforts to comply with the international requirements and standards of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, has indicated that when Jamaica was evaluated, “we were...

Members of the House of Representatives on Tuesday (March 28) approved the Financial Administration and Audit (Amendment) Act, 2023. The legislation, which was piloted by Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, was passed with one amendment. It seeks to repeal section 48C (1c), which forms part of the fiscal responsibility framework that was first...

There is an uptick in the number of persons utilising remittance services provided through the digital payment wallet – Lynk. Lynk is currently the sole wallet facilitating transactions involving Jamaica’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) – JAM-DEX. It is an app that can be downloaded on mobile devices. Speaking during a JIS ‘Think Tank’ on March 23, Brand and Sponsorship...

The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) is reporting that hundreds of small-business operators have registered with its digital currency, ‘JAM-DEX’, while a pilot project involving Government payment was successfully done. According to Divisional Chief for Financial Markets Infrastructure at the Central Bank, Dr. Novelette Panton, as at the 18th of February, 90 small merchants and 4,500 micro merchants were with the...