GENEVA, Switzerland – The number of working hours lost across the world in the first half of 2020 was significantly worse than previously estimated. The highly uncertain recovery in the second half of the year will not be enough to go back to pre-pandemic levels, even in the best scenario,
INTERNATIONAL payment company Mastercard in its latest study has found that more customers worldwide are utilising e-commerce platforms and digital payment services. This they said stems from the constraints imposed on the daily lives of consumers as a result of COVID-19, which has been changing the way how people shop.
THE Jamaican economy declined by 2.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2020 when compared to the similar quarter of 2019. That was the announcement made yesterday by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) in a release. In the release STATIN said the 2.3 per cent decline of the
Businesses should not be expecting free cash, but with this crisis it is the small businesses that, to a great extent, will contribute to jump-starting the economy when we are over this pandemic. Of the funding the Government is putting into the various stimulus packages announced earlier, a portion could
CARIBBEAN economist Marla Dukharan has launched a stinging broadside against the European Union regarding what she said was its unilateral blacklisting of some developing countries such as Jamaica, others in the Caribbean and the wider globe. Describing the EU's blacklisting of these countries as an act of racism and bullyism,
HE Insurance Association of Jamaica (IAJ) will be rolling out next month its Insurance Vehicle Information System (IVIS), which it says will significantly aid the sifting out of uninsured motor vehicles from the nation's roads. IVIS is a database of all the vehicles that are insured in Jamaica. This unique
Peter Levy (right) formally hands over the reins of the Insurance Association of Jamaica to Vernon James the new President on Friday June 26, 2020 at a ceremony held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston. Vernon James presented a gift to Peter Levy, a montage of some of
The Insurance Association of Jamaica (IAJ) is advising Jamaicans to brace for an increase in premium come January next based on COVID-19 and other market conditions. Responding to questions from The Jamaica Observer's Sunday Finance, IAJ vice-president Mark Thompson explained that a review in premium rates has become necessary because
With no vaccine or treatment yet developed, there is a lot of ‘guesstimating’ that the COVID-19 coronavirus may be around for at least another year, but more likely two, and that people and systems will have to adjust. That includes the insurance market, where the absence of business continuity insurance,
The Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) continues to reduce its Caribbean presence by selling some country operations. Caribbean Investment Holdings Limited (CIHL) announced on June 22 that it has reached an agreement for the purchase of Scotiabank (Belize) from Scotiabank Caribbean Holdings Ltd., a subsidiary of BNS for an initial
