The World Bank has approved a Country Partnership Strategy Report for Jamaica that will facilitate growth and further monetary disbursements under that institution’s commitment to the country. Finance and Planning Minister, Dr. the Hon. Peter Phillips, who made the announcement during his closing 2014/15 Budget Debate presentation in the House of Representatives, on April 30, said the facility, which was...

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller, has called on Jamaicans to work with her to build a brighter future for the country. Making her presentation in the 2014/15 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives on April 29, Mrs. Simpson Miller acknowledged that there are challenges and “it has not been easy”. She noted however, “that in situations...

The Government has given an undertaking to make the second of three one-off payment of $25,000 per annum to public sector workers, in August this year. Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller, said the total payment, which forms part of an agreement reached between the Government and trade unions representing public sector workers, will amount to $2.8 billion....

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller, says reducing the debt of the country is one of the main priorities of the Government. “This administration has not only been saying that we have to live within our means, we have been doing more with less,” she said. Making her contribution to the 2014/15 Budget Debate in the House of...

The Rural Electrification Programme (REP) has largely completed its mandate by bringing Jamaica’s electrification rate in rural communities to 97 per cent. Making her contribution to the 2014/15 Budget Debate in the House of Representative on April 29, Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller, said the programme will now move into a new phase, which will see the...

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller, says Entrepreneurship Jamaica, a business competition launched by the National Housing Trust (NHT) to encourage innovative ideas at the community level, has been successful. During her 2013/2014 Budget presentation last year, the Prime Minister announced the initiative, which provided residents in NHT-built schemes with mentorship to convert ideas into business ventures, that...

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller, says her administration remains committed to protecting Jamaicans, particularly the most vulnerable, from the effects of the current economic adjustment measures, as it implements the country’s macro-economic transformation programme. This commitment, she indicates, is evidenced by the administration’s earmarked expenditure of $5.5 billion to safeguard the welfare of the society’s most vulnerable,...