The Government of Jamaica is to roll out a broadband expansion programme, dubbed the National Broadband Initiative, which will seek to provide Internet connection to every household by 2025.  According to Minister of Science, Energy and Technology, Daryl Vaz, the Government will make access to th...

Jamaica’s Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett says since its borders reopened in June, they have welcomed 300,000 visitors yielding some US$150 million. According to Bartlett, if the current arrival trend is sustained over the winter season, then about 30% of the 170,000 workers directly employed in...

The Government of Jamaica has initiated action to institutionalise fiscal transparency and strengthen its fiscal responsibility framework by way of an Independent Fiscal Commission. This was effected through tabling a Bill to that effect in the House of Representatives. According to Finance Minis...

The CARICOM Private Sector Organization (CPSO) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), on Thursday 3 December 2020, signed a Memorandum of Understanding, which establishes the legal framework for cooperation and collaboration between the Private Sector and the Community, as mandated by the Conference...

The CARICOM Private Sector Organisation on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Caribbean Community to cooperate on the full implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), regarded as the most viable platform for supporting the Region’s growth and development. C...

Commencing November 30, sub-regional carrier LIAT will be resuming its commercial services by providing services to a limited number of destinations and routes. According to a November 25 press release, “The airline will operate flights 5 days per week to 7 destinations across the LIAT network. T...

The Government of St Lucia will introduce a tourism levy effective December 15, 2020 to aid in the financing of the industry marketing and development. In a two-tier system, guests will be charged either US$3 or US$6 per person per night depending on a room rate below or above US$120. A rate of 5...

Jamaica has recorded 3,586 new company registrations for the period January 1 to November 11, 2020. That’s according to data produced by the Companies Office of Jamaica and released on social media by Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke who noted that “in the middle of the pandemic and record econom...

International ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has maintained its long and short-term credit ratings of B-/B with a stable outlook for the Barbados economy. “The stable outlook reflects our view that the COVID-19 pandemic will have a significant impact on Barbados’ economy and that ...

National Commercial Bank (NCB) Jamaica Limited and Republic Bank of Trinidad and Tobago are the only 2 banking institutions in the Region to be named in Global Finance's list of the World's Safest Banks in 112 countries. According to Global Finance, which is headquartered in New York with a circu...