Evan Thwaites, managing director of new property insurance company IronRock Insurance Ltd, indicates that directors are pleased with the 2016 results, having weathered the first year in operation with losses which were lower than expected. Thwaites told the Jamaica Observer that in the new financial year the company is expecting significant revenue growth with plans [...]

Once again, the combination of agriculture, forestry and fishing was the sector which grew the most in the December 2016 quarter, the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) indicates in its quarterly Monetary Report (QMPR) which was released yesterday. The food and forest-based industries topped real sector growth, delivering an increase in the range of 17.5 [...]

Prime Minister Andrew Holness speaking at the annual Sagicor Pension Investment Seminar yesterday. (Photo: Lionel Rookwood) PRIME Minister Andrew Holness says policy changes will be made to existing pension schemes even as trade unions insist that they will not accept some of the proposals by his Administration to implement a contributory scheme by April of [...]

Minister with oversight responsibility for water, works and housing in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation Dr Horace Chang (left) and CEO of Kingston Freeport Terminal Limited Olivier Tretout look at sludge dredged from the seafloor at Port Bustamante, yesterday. (Michael Gordon) Seven weeks into the dredging of Port Bustamante in the Kingston [...]

General insurance start-up IronRock closed its first full year of operation with a loss of $48 million, but Managing Director R. Evan Thwaites says the numbers are in line with expectations. "We are pretty much bang on with our predictions, so to that extent we are pleased," he said in an interview with Gleaner Business. [...]

IronRock Insurance recorded a pre-tax loss of $48.2 million for the year ended December 31. Gross Written Premium amounted to $127.3 million with Net Written Premium totaling $46.5 million. Iron Rock said in a report to the stock exchange that its operating expenses were $91 million and there were claims incurred of $1.9 million which [...]

Finance Minister, Audley Shaw, has indicated that 84 public entities are to be merged, closed or divested as part of the Government’s ongoing rationalisation of the public service. Shaw made the disclosure at the signing of the divestment of operations of Caymanas Track Limited to Supreme Ventures Limited at the finance ministry on Friday. He [...]

A review of the Government's revenue estimates indicates that the Andrew Holness administration intends to increase its tax intake by $62 billion this fiscal year. Of significance is that the Government is projecting to rake in $15 billion from General Consumption Tax, while an additional $6 billion is expected to be realised from Special Consumption [...]

Riders are taught real-world skills that help them handle a motorcycle properly and with confidence. Photo: Rory Daley Motorcycle Safety workshop Back to Basics (BTB) was held on Sunday, February 5 at the Spanish Court Hotel in New Kingston, in continuation of its mantra of educating Jamaica’s motorcycle users in order to reduce their rising [...]

he new budget tabled in the House of Representatives yesterday by Minister of Finance and the Public Service Audley Shaw shows a 20 per cent increase in government spending in 2017/18. The estimates show a 20 per cent increase in government expenditure, most notably a 38 per cent increase in total debt service, and a [...]