I wish to once again thank the staff of the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service and other agencies for their assistance in the course of preparations for this Debate. I also wish to thank the Prime Minister, Opposition Leader, and the Opposition Spokesman on Finance for their contributions. Mr. Speaker, coinciding with the Budget Debate was an IMF...

Mr. Speaker, on rising I must give thanks to God for sparing us, individually, as a Parliament and as a Nation, that we can all gather here once again to deliberate on the people’s business and recommit ourselves as instruments of His will. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the people of Jamaica who exercised their civic duty and voted...

Statement to the Senate by Senator the Honourable Kamina Johnson Smith Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade 20th May 2016 Topics: UN General Assembly Special Session on the World Drug Problem; High Level Signing of the Paris Climate Change Agreement and High Level Thematic Debate on the Sustainable Development Goals, New York 19 – 22 April 2016-05-17; ACP and...

“WORKING FOR THE PEOPLE - PROTECTING THE GAINS”  CONTRIBUTION TO THE BUDGET DEBATE BY THE MOST HON. PORTIA SIMPSON MILLER ON, MP LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2016   This Budget Debate takes place in the context of the recent general election which resulted in a change of Administration. The 32/31 seat distribution in this House creates a...

Prime Minister Holness and World Bank Vice President Jorge Familiar held wide-ranging discussions in Montego Bay today. World Bank Vice President Familiar congratulated Jamaica for its commitment to good macro-economic policies and expressed his conviction that with continued reforms, Jamaica is on the right path for accelerating growth. As part of its country partnership strategy, the World Bank is providing...

Statement Dr. the Honourable Andrew Wheatley Minister of Science, Energy and Technology World Telecommunication and Information Societies Day May 17, 2016   Today, May 17, is celebrated as World Telecommunications Day.  As Minister with responsibility for technology, I extend support for the celebrations, which incorporates the theme, “ICT entrepreneurship for social impact.” Telecommunications is an integral aspect of our lives...

PARTNERSHIP FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH THE STATE OF THE NATION Forty years of 1% GDP, almost two generations of marginal growth while the rest of the world was largely growing at much more impressive rates. Our productivity as a nation has declined precipitously since the halcyon days of the 1960s, when Jamaica’s annual productivity gains were among the best in the...