THE Statistical Institute of Jamaica (Statin) released final gross domestic product (GDP) figures for the fourth quarter of 2021 showing the recovery from the pandemic-induced economic contraction is well underway. The data show expansion in the fourth quarter was measured at 6.7 per cent. This was the sixth-consecutive quarter of expansion since a 15.9 per […]
SYGNUS, the Jamaica-based alternative investments company, has its eyes set on being a major player in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean using the recently acquired Puerto Rico-based Acrecent Financial Corporation to pursue the aim. Sygnus Credit Investments completed the acquisition of 93.66 per cent Acrecent Financial on February 28 through its SCI Puerto Rico subsidiary for US$21 […]
WITH FHC Investments Limited (FHCIL) admitted to the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) as a member dealer and having a brokerage licence in hand, the budding firm is looking to scale its operations in 2022 as it plans to make a bigger splash in the trillion-dollar financial services industry. The licensed securities dealer is a wholly-owned […]
BANKING sources have told the Jamaica Observer that the race to new digital frontiers in the transactional space is intensely competitive, with service providers watching each other either to match or exceed the pace of the fastest mover. The island’s two largest banks – the National Commercial Bank and Scotiabank Jamaica – estimated to hold […]
Restaurant and entertainment company KLE Group has offloaded its core restaurant business that consisted of the Usain Bolt Tracks and Records (UBTR) eatery, sports bar and entertainment spot, to associated company FranJam, in a deal that frees the company’s balance sheet of the drag of the loss-making UBTR, while allowing KLE to focus on its […]
File CEO of JFP Limited, Metry Seaga Jamaican business stakeholders are urging the local manufacturing and sale of more construction inputs and renewable energy to offset the commodity spikes and supply disruptions resulting from the global economic upheavals caused by the Russian invasion. “We have got to learn to make things here, rather than buy […]
The Bank of Jamaica, BOJ, late Tuesday announced its decision to again increase the policy interest rate, which is the rate offered to deposit-taking institutions on overnight placements with the central bank, by 50 basis points to 4.50 per cent per annum, effective March 30. It is the fifth rate hike by the monetary policy […]
Finance Minister Dr. Nigel Clarke (centre) presides over the annual meeting of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and IDB Investment Corporation (IDB Invest), in Washington, DC in the United States on Monday, March 28 following his election as chairman of the board of governors of the multilateral financing institution and its private-sector investment arm. Bank […]
LONG before the novel coronavirus pandemic, sole proprietor of Goodwill Furnishings Durrant Pate understood the concept of pivoting. After a couple years of operating a wholesale in downtown Kingston, the journalist-turned-businessman, in 2017, decided to make his foray into furniture manufacturing. “The company is… a spin-off from a previous company, which I operated about […]
FINANCE Minister Dr Nigel Clarke has been elected as chairman of the Board of Governors of Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) for 2022. Dr Clarke’s nomination was announced by the governor for Paraguay, Oscar Llamosas Díaz, and seconded by the temporary alternate governor for Canada, Andrew Hurst. They were […]
