Jamaica
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Opposition chides IMF
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Observer – THE Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has chided the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for supporting what it described as the Government's 'scandalous raid' on the National Housing Trust (NHT) for $11 billion annually to fund the country's debt, as one of several new revenue measures announced in Parliament earlier this week. In the meantime, the Opposition…
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Westerners Support Debt-Reduction Plan – Business Leaders Say Gov’t Had No Choice
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Gleaner – STAKEHOLDERS IN western Jamaica say Government must now provide the nation with a comprehensive growth package to complement the measures announced by Prime Minister Portia Simpson and her finance minister, Dr Peter Phillips, earlier this week. In a broadcast to the nation, the prime minister and Phillips called for the financial sector and the entire country…
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‘Let’s Be Realistic’ – Phillips Pleads With Jamaicans To Understand Nation’s Economic Dilemma
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Gleaner – AMID THE hue and cry from sections of the society in response to a $16-billion tax package passed by Parliament this week, Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips has urged Jamaicans to be guided by the country's economic reality as well as the global financial climate. “I think it important and I plead for the country and…
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US$170m medical tourism facility for Jamaica
(Jamaica Gleaner) Investment promotions agency, JAMPRO, has announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding with American Global MD (AGMD) for the country’s first ‘five-star’ medical tourism facility valued at US$170 million. John Marcocchio, the local project manager and director of Implementation Limited, said Thursday that the project is likely to break ground in 12 to 18 months after design…
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No surprise
KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC- Following Tuesday’s announcement of a J$15.9 billion (One Jamaica dollar = US$0.01 cents) tax package, Finance Minister, Dr. Peter Phillips has stated that the additional tax package should not have come as a surprise as several signals had already been given. Phillips, was responding to those who have taken him to task over the timing of the…
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CARICOM Single-Clearance Idea Good
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Gleaner – This newspaper endorses the suggestion by the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) that Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member states introduce a visa regime similar to the Schengen visa of some European Union members. The system would allow seamless travel by visitors across the Community after clearing immigration/customs at their initial port of entry. Such a system was in…
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Salada looks to Africa
KINGSTON Jamaica, Observer – COFFEE and tea products maker Salada Foods is eyeing Africa. “We are looking at the African market as another area of potential growth for us,” said Julian Rodney, Salada's general manager. “Salada has no presence there.” With a particular focus on West Africa, Rodney reckons that the similarity in taste profile to Jamaicans makes the market…
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‘Time hard and the dutty tough’, but…
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Observer – WE have a sense that the Government's version of JDX, being called the National Debt Exchange Offer, is a smart way to squeeze $17 billion annually out of the system, without sending the nation into panic. We will return to this tomorrow in this space. But at the same, we also have the sense that Monday…
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Our Hands Are Tied – Stakeholders Reluctantly Accept New Debt Exchange
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Observer – It was not a happy group inside the Bank of Jamaica Auditorium in Kingston yesterday morning as Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and Minister of Finance and Planning Dr Peter Phillips hosted the launch of the National Debt Exchange (NDX). The second of its kind in three years, Simpson Miller has indicated that the offer is…
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Government planning to tax churches, charities?
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Observer – ELIMINATING discretionary waivers altogether could return $4 billion in revenue to the Government. But the tax breaks, which are approved after applications are considered by the finance ministry, mostly go to charitable organisations, while public sector bodies and government contracts take up a significant portion of the rest. What's more, with a targeted primary surplus of…
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