Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, arrives for the Anti-Corruption Summit in London, on May 12. (Photo: AFP) THE following are the highlights of the 2016 Article IV Consultation and the 11th and 12th Extended Fund Facility (EFF) reviews Concluding Statement of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Mission. The statement was presented [...]

Tuesday, May 24, 2016 | 6:54 PM KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — The Government has increased the income band for persons accessing zero per cent loans from the National Housing Trust (NHT) from $7,500 to $12,000 per week. “This means that all workers in Jamaica, who earn $12,000 per week and less will be able to [...]

Published:Wednesday | May 18, 2016 General Accident Insurance Company is going after 20-25 per cent of additional business from the homeowners insurance market, by targeting mortgagees who pay insurance on their home loans. Through a new marketing campaign called Look. Call. Save, General Accident is urging homeowners to unbundle the insurance component of their monthly [...]

Wednesday, May 18, 2016 Richard Byles reckons that the country could face more belt tightening measures to support a $25-billion gap in budget come next March aided by the increase in income tax threshold. Looking closer to home, Byles, Co-chair of the Economic Programme Oversight Committee (EPOC), is optimistic that Jamaica will pass the 11th [...]

Wednesday, May 18, 2016 | 7:33 PM ST JAMES, Jamaica (JIS) — General Manager of Jamaica National, Earl Jarrett, is advocating for Caribbean countries to unite to overcome economic stagnation and threats to their individual economies. He noted that the Caribbean is one space, with a collective history and a common cause, and this demands [...]

[Kingston, April, 2016] Jackie Sharp, President and CEO Scotia Group Jamaica, will take on the oversight of four additional territories in her new role as Head of the Caribbean North and Central for Scotiabank.  In this new role, Ms. Sharp’s duties have been expanded to include overseeing the operations of The Bahamas, Cayman, Turks & [...]

Monday, May 16, 2016 | 12:58 PM VICTORIA, Seychelles (CMC) – A report by the London-based Commonwealth Secretariat is warning Caribbean countries if they continue on their current development path, by 2050 they will face unmanageable debt, poor growth, and greater socio-economic problems. The report, which was launched at the Fourth Global Biennial Conference on [...]

Monday, May 16, 2016 | 3:36 PM KINGSTON, Jamaica — Information from the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) reveals that the All Divisions Consumer Price Index for April 2016 declined by 0.4 per cent when compared to March 2016. A news release from STATIN on Monday said that this movement was impacted by several divisions [...]

Published:Sunday | May 15, 2016 | 12:51 AMCedric Stephens Work on the legislative framework, “which will give effect to the implementation of micro-insurance in Jamaica”, continues. These remarks were made on May 5, 2016, by the acting deputy executive director of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), Janet Johnson-Haughton, at a seminar titled ‘Microinsurance through financial [...]