Ministry of Finance and the Public Service
Audit Committee Performance Evaluation guideline (ACPE tool)
Hon. Nigel Clarke, DPhil., MP, (2nd left) Minister of Finance and the Public Service and Lilia Burunciuc (2nd right), World Bank Country Director for the Caribbean Countries sign a loan agreement to support the Jamaica Social Protection for Increased Resilience and Opportunities Project during a visibility ceremony at the ministry on Tuesday, June 11, 2024. Looking on are Collette Roberts Risden (left), Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Social Security and Dr. Jaime Saavedra Chanduvi (right), World Bank Human Development Director for Latin America and the Caribbean Region.
Kingston, Jamaica: Tuesday, October 29, 2024
The Independent Fiscal Commission Act, which establishes an Independent Fiscal Commission for monitoring and maintaining Jamaica’s adherence to the country’s fiscal responsibility laws, was passed in 2021. Though passed in 2021, additional steps needed to be taken in order to set up the Commission before bringing the Act into force – including appointing the Fiscal Commissioner, and establishing an Advisory Board. With all preliminary steps either finalised or far advanced, the Act is set to come into effect on January 1, 2025, by way of an Appointed Day Notice.
The Fiscal Commission’s objective will be to influence public understanding and debate on fiscal policy, inter alia, through the publication of reports and analyses that are consistent with the budget cycle.
Mr. Clarke noted, “The Independent Fiscal Commission is the guardian and interpreter of Jamaica’s fiscal rules and is required to provide independent assessments of budgetary outcomes, in addition to independent fiscal analysis. The Commissioner will provide an informed second opinion on fiscal developments and is expected to play a constructive role in informing the public and, in so doing, incentivising adherence to Jamaica’s fiscal rules.”
Jamaica’s first Fiscal Commissioner, Mr. Courtney Williams, a fiscal economist and career civil servant was sworn in by the Governor General in March 2023 after a rigorous selection process led by the Commission’s Search Committee and thereafter consultations with the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition.
His Excellency the Most Honourable Sir Patrick Linton Allen, ON, GCMG, CD, KSt.J, Governor General has appointed the following five persons to serve on the Fiscal Advisory Committee:
This confirmation of the January 1, 2025 operational date of the Fiscal Commission, comes on the heels of the recent launch of the UWI Fiscal Research Centre (“FRC”), supported by a J$200mn endowment from the GOJ. The Fiscal Commission, Fiscal Research Centre and the independent Central Bank are all critical components of the country’s institutional economic framework.
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For further information contact:
Ministry of Finance and the Public Service
30 National Heroes Circle
Kingston 4
The Hon. Nigel Clarke, D.Phil., MP
Minister of Finance and the Public Service
30 National Heroes Circle, Kingston 4
Tel: (876) 932-4656 / 4660 / 4655
Eml: opedjamaica@gmail.com
A Jamaica Teachers Association Memorandum dated April 23, 2025 to its membership from the Secretary General, Mark Nicely, stated that the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service had outlined that payments for the increments should be made during the first quarter of the 2025-2026 Financial Year.
The third staging of the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service’s (MOFPS) National Budget Secondary School Tour is set to engage several schools in the parish of Clarendon. The Ministry rolled out this leg of the school tour with a launch at Glenmuir High School which included students from Denbigh High School on Tuesday, April 8, 2025.
The Ministry of Finance and the Public Service and the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU) signed a Supplementary Agreement on September 12, 2024. Among the matters agreed in this Agreement is the movement of specific public sector employees along their substantive salary bands effective April 1, 2025.
Fitch Ratings Agency, on February 21, 2025, affirmed the Government of Jamaica’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘BB-’, with the outlook remaining “Positive.”
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