KINGSTON, JAMAICA, Gleaner- The Guyana government says it will hold a national mining lottery later this month that will target small miners due to the increased demand for mining properties.
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Observer - OPPOSITION Leader Andrew Holness has warned Jamaicans to be cautiously optimistic as news emerges that an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) nears. Holness said yesterday that while the IMF agreement is likely to be approved by the end of April, the sentiment in some quarters that Jamaica’s problems were solved has been misguided. "We take note that the originally planned loan sum has increased by US$200-million.
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Observer - IN a press briefing yesterday, Governor Brian Wynter expanded on Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) statement released that morning on the foreign exchange market. In the BOJ's press statement, they had noted that the fall in the exchange rate "had occurred in the context of extended negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a new borrowing programme, and some uncertainty regarding the extent of the financial support".
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Gleaner - THE GOVERNMENT is beginning to get its critical economic pieces in their place. Last week, Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips tabled an expenditure budget that, taking into the account the effects of inflation, projects spending at more than a fifth less than the previous fiscal year.
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Gleaner - The Business Processing Industry Association of Jamaica (BPIAJ) is among several interest groups scheduled to meet with tax administrators at the Ministry of Finance and Planning today to discuss the likely impact the removal of tax incentives could have on their members.
"Yes, we have been invited to a meeting in Kingston," Yoni Epstein, chairman of BPIAJ, told The Gleaner yesterday. "We are working assiduously to prepare our presentation and would prefer not to comment on the matter until we hear what they (the Ministry of Finance) have to say."
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Gleaner - Some $15 million has been set aside in the 2013-14 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives, to improve the competitiveness of small and medium-size hotels through the use of renewable energy.
KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC- Dr. Olive Lewin the well known Jamaican musicologist, folklorist and founder of the Jamaican Folk Singers is dead.
Lewin, 85, who died on Wednesday, dedicated her life to keeping the nation’s traditional songs alive by researching, collecting and recording anthologies for the benefit of future generations.
In the 1980s Lewin also spearheaded the Jamaica Memory Bank Project, at the direction of Prime Minister Edward Seaga, which focused on the recollections of Jamaicans from all walks of life, recording and transcribing their stories.
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Observer - STRAPPED for cash and looking forward to signing a US$958-million loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by month end, the Jamaican Government is continuing to court other multilaterals, Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips said yesterday.
On Monday the management of the IMF indicated that it will be making the recommendation to the Board that the loan be approved when it meets some time this month. It also indicated its intention to move the initial loan of US$750 million to US$958 million (over four years).
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Gleaner - Visitor arrivals fell by six per cent in 2012 but new Tourism Minister Shawn Crockwell is confident Bermuda can bounce back this year and cash in on a number of market opportunities.
Crockwell, whose One Bermuda Alliance has been in power for just under four months, told a news conference on Tuesday that visitor arrivals dropped from 655,000 in 2011 to 615,000 last year.
Air arrivals fell by less than two per cent, but cruise arrivals, after a record high year in 2011, saw a nine per cent decline because of 20 fewer ship calls.
KINGSTN, Jamaica - MRS Margaret Thatcher, who secured her place in British history as the first and only female prime minister of Great Britain, died yesterday at the age of 87 years. Referred to as the "Iron Lady", the epithet given to her by cold war Soviet Union, Mrs Thatcher ruled for 11 divisive years (May 1979 - November 1990), winning three consecutive general elections. To supporters she was a saviour who rescued Britain, and to critics she destroyed comity in favour of greed.