THE Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) has put out final data for remittance flows indicating that for the January to May 2021 period, inflows totalled US$1401.8 million. For the month of May, net flows were US$290.7 million — a sum which was 29.8 per cent or US$66.8 million higher than the

Insurance companies are resisting a move by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) to effectively ban insurance premium financing. Premium financing allows policyholders to pay their premiums over a longer period of time so that they don't have to find the full annual premium up front, which can often be burdensome.

Companies are being urged to incorporate greater use of technology into their operations, if they are to survive the continuous measures to contain the spread of COVID-19. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced longer curfews and seven no-movement days in a bid to curb the current surge in

PERSONAL finance expert Sherii Budley, investment advisor at Scotia Investments Jamaica Limited, this week shares with us five additional methods to walk unscathed from a debt trap. 1. BUDGETING   The first step to becoming debt-free is to simply spend less. A budget is an important tool that can help

The Ministry of Labour and Social Security has advised that Jamaica's current laws do not support mandatory vaccination against COVID-19 for workers. This, despite concerns arising from employers as well as employees in relation to the safety of all stakeholders as the country continues to grapple with the novel coronavirus

Jamaica's economic recovery accelerated in the second quarter of this year (April to June), with the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) estimating that output expanded by 12.9 per cent. Dr Wayne Henry, director general of the PIOJ, said the growth stemmed from significant increases in economic activities as well as

Caribbean Blockchain Alliance has come out swinging against a claim from eCurrency CEO Jonathan Dharmapalan that blockchain technology is a “vulnerable security mechanism”. The claim was made in an article published recently by the Jamaica Observer which said Jamaica's digital currency is 'more secure than Bitcoin'. In the article, Dharmapalan

With the Government's seven-day lockdown to curb the latest spike in coronavirus cases now in force, small business associations say the measure has been unsettling for the micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSME) sector which has felt the sharp end of it. President of the Small Business Association (SBA) Michael

Jamaica's gross reserves swelled to US$4.8 billion earlier this week, as the US$520 million that was promised by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been disbursed. The funds Jamaica received are part of the US$650 billion which IMF member nations approved on August 2 as part of efforts to give

A lthough Bank of Jamaica, BOJ, minted $230 million of its new digital currency earlier this month as part of a pilot that runs to year end, the sole approved wallet provider so far, National Commercial Bank Jamaica, NCB, is not expected to receive its allocation of the central bank