For the 2022/23 financial year, the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) will focus on the monetisation of its land assets through divestments, as well as the continuation of its project management functions. This is outlined in the 2022/23 Public Bodies Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure, tabled recently in the House of Representatives. The document further noted that the UDC will continue...

The All-Jamaica Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 0.8 per cent for February 2022 as released today by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN). This movement was largely impacted by the 1.3 per cent increase in the index for the heavily weighted ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ division. The increase in the division ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ was mainly attributed to...

Following a two-year break due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the National Business Model Competition (NBMC) for tertiary institutions will return for the seventh staging in April. The annual competition, jointly staged by the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) and Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), seeks to encourage entrepreneurial activity among tertiary students and increase collaboration between the private...

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in need of working capital are being advised to take advantage of the National Export-Import Bank of Jamaica (EXIM Bank) express loan facility. EXIM Express is a short-term, 90-day facility with a turnaround time of seven days from application to disbursement of the loan. It allows entities to leverage their receivables to access funds needed...

Opposition Spokesman on Finance and the Public Service, Julian Robinson, is welcoming the public-sector compensation review. He said the Opposition has always supported the call of the trade unions for a review of the compensation structure in the public service. “The truth is, over successive administrations the workers of Jamaica have always been called on to bear the brunt when...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon Nigel Clarke, is crediting Jamaica’s economic recovery from the coronavirus (COVID-19) to the prudent fiscal measures implemented by the Government. The Minister, who was opening the 2022/23 Budget Debate on Tuesday (March 8) said that the buffers put in place prior to the pandemic, including the strategic decision to increase...

Jamaica’s debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio is projected to recover to 96 per cent by March 2022 as the economy continues its strong rebound from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The debt-to-GDP ratio was 94 per cent at the onset of COVID-19 in March 2020, but due to the pandemic and the measures implemented to slow its spread, the ratio increased...