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Staff-Level Agreement Reachedon New IMF Programme

BUSINESS CONFIDENCEin the economy remainshigh, with firms expressingoptimism about the pros-pects for growth and abelief that this is a goodtime to invest in Jamaica. Market ResearchAnalyst, Don Anderson,has said that these entitieshave maintained their opti-mism that the Government’sprogrammes will establishrenewed economic growth,resulting in increased profits. Additionally, he saidthey have indicated a will-ingness to invest in newplant and equipment andto expand their productioncapacity Mr. Anderson wasproviding a summary of theJamaica Chamber of Com-merce (JCC) ConferenceBoard’s Business and Con-sumer Indices for the thirdquarter of 2016 at theSpanish Court Hotel inNew Kingston last week. The business confi-dence index stood at 139.2

per cent in the third quarter,which is 26 per cent higherthan the 110.6 per centrecorded for the similarperiod in 2015. The figureis, however, slightly belowthe 141.6 per cent and144.6 per cent recorded inthe prior two quarters of2016. Meanwhile, consumerconfidence stood at 151.6per cent in the third quarter.This was a slight declineover the 155.6 per cent forthe second quarter, but anincrease over the 147.9per cent for the first quarterof the year. Mr. Anderson saiddespite a slight dip in theindices, optimism amongbusinesses and consumersremains at a higher levelin 2016 than over the last15 years. He noted that con-sumers expect growth tocontinue, greater job cre-ation, and improvementsin income levels.

Business Confidence Remains HighTHE GOVERNMENT

and the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF)

have reached a Staff-LevelAgreement on a new US$1.7billion economic pro-gramme for Jamaica. The proposed three-year precautionary standbyagreement will, upon theIMF Executive Board’sapproval at its meeting inNovember, replace the cur-rent Extended Fund Facility(EFF), which concludes inMarch 2017. This was announced byPrime Minister the MostHon. Andrew Holness duringa joint Government ofJamaica/IMF press confer-ence at Jamaica House onOctober 13. Mr. Holness said the newagreement emphasises theneed for reorientation andtransformation of the publicsector “to an efficient, effectiveperformance-focused facili-tator of growth, social well-being and rule of law.” Additionally, he said itsprovisions would greatlyassist in safeguarding Jam-aica against unforeseenshocks that are beyond thecountry’s control, whileboosting investor confidence. Mr. Holness said theprecautionary arrangementbeing pursued, which wasconveyed during meetingswith members of the IMFStaff Mission who were in

the island, was based on theBank of Jamaica’s (BoJ) “com-fortable reserves position.” He described this decisionas “a sign of strength andreflects the policy credibilityand strong macroeconomicmanagement of the Gov-ernment.” “The proposed newprogramme and the largeand important commitmentof IMF resources that itentails is a firm vote of con-fidence in Jamaica,” Mr.Holness stated. Director of the IMF’sWestern Hemisphere Depart-ment, Dr. Alejandro Werner,

who endorsed the PrimeMinister’s sentiments, saidthe agreement signalled the“long-term commitment ofthe IMF to the Jamaicanpeople.” In his remarks, Financeand the Public Service

Minister, Hon. AudleyShaw, said he was com-mitted to “leading andensuring full and compre-hensive implementation ofthe programme which theGovernment has agreed tofollow.”

Prime Minister the Most Hon. Andrew Holness (left) converses with the InternationalMonetary Fund’s (IMF) Mission Team Head to Jamaica, Dr. Uma Ramakrishnan (2nd right),during the last week’s press conference at Jamaica House. Others (from 2nd left) are:Finance and Public Service Minister, Hon. Audley Shaw; Director of the IMF’s WesternHemisphere Department, Dr. Alejandro Werner; and Bank of Jamaica (BoJ) Governor,Brian Wynter.

CABINET HAS givenapproval for the divestmentof Wigton WindfarmLimited, at Rose Hill inManchester. This was revealed byEducation, Youth andInformation Minister, Sen-ator the Hon. Ruel Reid,during last week’s post-Cabinet press briefing atJamaica House. Senator Reid saidapproval was given for thecommissioning of the windfarm’s valuation by reputablethird-party valuators aswell as the engagement ofa financial transactionsstructure advisor. The advisor will haveresponsibility for recom-mending optimal strategiesto be adopted to maximisereturns for the Government. A subsidiary of thePetroleum Corporation ofJamaica (PCJ), WigtonWindfarm Ltd. is the largestwind energy facility in theEnglish-speaking Carib-bean. The company beganoperating in 2004 with thecommissioning of a 20.7megawatt-generating plant,Wigton I. This was fol-lowed by the developmentof Wigton II in 2010, whichgenerates 18 megawatts ofenergy. Wigton III, the facility’s24-megawatt phase, wasofficially commissionedinto service in June by

Prime Minister the MostHon. Andrew Holness.

Wigton Windfarm to be Divested

TWO HUNDRED Jam-aicans will be recognisedduring today’s NationalHonours and Awards cere-mony at King’s House,starting at 9:00 a.m. Heading the list ofrecipients is former Gov-ernment Minister and Parlia-mentarian, Dr. KennethLeo O’Neil Baugh, who willreceive the fifth highestaward, the Order of Jamaica(OJ), for distinguished publicservice and contribution tothe field of Medicine. The Order of Jamaicawill also be conferred onProfessor Denise Eldemire-Shearer, CD, for outstandingand distinguished advocacyfor senior citizens in the fieldsof Health and Welfare; andAmbassador Anthony SmithRowe Johnson for distin-guished national service inthe public and private sectorsand for his contribution toJamaica’s Foreign Service.

Another 2016 recipient,renowned artist, Dr. DavidWayne Boxer, CD, wasconferred with the award in

August for his invaluablecontribution to the NationalGallery of Jamaica and thedevelopment of the Arts.

Thirty-three personswill be conferred with theOrder of Distinction, inthe rank of Commander(CD). Among these areDub Poet, Allan Roy“Mutabaruka” Hope, andretired House Speaker,Michael Anthony Peart.Forty-six persons will receivethe Order of Distinction, inthe rank of Officer (OD).They include late Journalists,Glenroy Sinclair and GarySpaulding who will beawarded Posthumous. Twocivilians will receive theBadge of Honour forGallantry; 16 individualswill be conferred with theBadge of Honour forMeritorious Service; and37 will receive the Badgeof Honour for Long andFaithful Service.

200 Jamaicans Being Honoured

Take the Profit Out of Crime – PM

Prime Minister the Most Hon. Andrew Holness (left)with noted Jamaican artist and art historian, Dr. DavidBoxer (seated), after he was conferred with the Order ofJamaica by Deputy Governor-General, Hon. SteadmanFuller (2nd right), during a special ceremony of investitureat Dr. Boxer’s home in St. Andrew on August 9. Alsopictured is Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainmentand Sport, Hon. Olivia Grange.

Education, Youth andInformation Minister, Sen-ator the Hon. Ruel Reid

Chairman of the Southern Regional Health Authority(SRHA), Wayne Chen (left); and Chief Executive Officerof the Culture, Health, Arts, Sports and Education (CHASE)Fund, Wilford “Billy” Heaven (centre), observe as MedicalImaging Practitioner, Michael Thomas, demonstratesthe use of an X-ray machine that was donated to theSRHA by the CHASE Fund. The machine, valued at$19 million, has been installed at the Mandeville RegionalHospital in Manchester, which serves approximately40,000 clients annually, and will improve the servicesoffered by the Radiology Department.

Mandeville Regional Hospital GetsX-Ray Machine

PRIME MINISTER theMost Hon. Andrew Holnesshas urged the financialsector to maintain a regu-latory environment thatremoves profitability fromcriminal activity. “We must take theprofit out of crime. Crim-inals must have no accessto the financial system;and where they operate inthe informal economy andthe backwaters of ourcountry, we must find themand separate them fromtheir illegal gains,” he said. Mr. Holness wasdelivering the keynoteaddress at the fifth annualAnti-Money Laundering/Counter-Financing of Ter-rorism (AML/CFT) Con-ference, jointly hosted bythe Jamaica BankersAssociation (JBA) andJamaica Institute of Fin-ancial Services (JIFS), atthe Jamaica Pegasus

Hotel in New Kingston,last week. The Prime Ministeralso urged collaboration toensure that criminal activ-ities remain unprofitable. “The challenge for allof us – in the banking system,commerce or industry – ishow to build a system thatdetects and deters suchcriminal and terroristicuse of our financial sys-tem,” he said.

Mr. Holness pointedout that money laundering,which is directly linked tocrime, was a serious globalproblem, and was estimatedto account for betweentwo and five per cent ofglobal gross domesticproduct (GDP). “Jamaica cannot affordto be seen as a weak linkin the chain of inter-national efforts to combatmoney laundering and ter-rorism financing. We musthave a robust anti-moneylaundering and counter-financing of terrorismregime in place to preventcriminals from benefitingfrom the proceeds ofcrime,” he said. Mr. Holness assuredthat the Government remainscommitted to taking thenecessary steps to insulatethe financial sector fromthe threats of de-risking.

Prime Minister the MostHon. Andrew Holness

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