Cabinet has approved the establishment of a national technical working group on voluntary and involuntary migrants. Chaired by the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), it forms part of the Government’s expanded reintegration and rehabilitation strategy. Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith, who made the disclosure during a special post-Cabinet press briefing on Thursday...

The Minister of Finance and the Public Service is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Dennis Chung as Chief Technical Director of the Financial Investigations Division (FID), effective June 2, 2025. The recruitment/appointment process was managed by the Office of the Services Commissions. Mr. Chung brings over 35 years of extensive experience in accounting and financial management, having served...

The Accountant General’s Department (AGD) is encouraging pensioners to take advantage of its upcoming mobile life certificate drive to submit their life certificates on time. Speaking with JIS News, Director of Corporate Communications and Public Relations at the AGD, David King, said timely submission of life certificates is crucial in ensuring that pensioners continue to receive payments. “This allows the...

He said it is projected that the economy will grow within the range of 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent in April to June 2025, relative to April to June 2024. The Director General explained that this performance will be supported by increased output in agriculture, due to the continued strengthening in domestic crop production and a reduction in...

The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has unanimously agreed to reduce the policy rate by 25 basis points from six per cent to 5.75 per cent per annum, effective May 21. The policy rate is offered to deposit-taking institutions (DTIs) on overnight placements with the BOJ. Central Bank Governor, Richard Byles, speaking during the Quarterly Monetary Policy...

The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) projects that the initial impact of rising US tariffs on prices in Jamaica will be minimal. “In assessing the near-term outlook, the Monetary Policy Committee contemplated the implications for the Jamaican economy of the policies that have been implemented by the US administration, to date, and in so doing looked at...

Jamaica’s poverty prevalence for 2023 was estimated at 8.2 per cent, a decline from 16.7 per cent in 2021. Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) Director General, Dr. Wayne Henry, disclosed that it was “the lowest figure ever recorded since poverty rates were first measured in 1989”. Addressing the PIOJ’s quarterly briefing on Wednesday (May 21), in Kingston, he said the...