This statement is in response to a media story today.

The multi-billion Stocks and Securities Limited (“SSL”) fraud, which dates back to at least 2010, and which only came to light in January 2023, was a punch to the gut for all Jamaicans. The magnitude of the fraud, its duration and the fact that the victims included several elderly Jamaicans, as well a beloved icon, shocked the nation. I shared and still share those emotions.

The Government of Jamaica (GOJ) is implementing a Reverse Income Tax Credit (RITC) which will provide a grant of $20,000 to registered taxpayers who earned less than 3 million dollars during year of assessment 2023. The initiative was launched at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston on Wednesday, October 2, 2024.

The Ministry of Finance and the Public Service and the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU) concluded the Agreement on items carried over from the implementation of the new Compensation Structure for the Public Service with the signing of a Heads of Agreement on September 12, 2024.

The Government of Jamaica (GOJ) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) for advancing the Jamaica-Japan Partnership Initiative at the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service on Wednesday, July 31, 2024.

The Government of Jamaica, through Harmonisation Limited, an entity within the portfolio of the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, entirely owned by the Government of Jamaica, has entered into a definitive framework agreement with Tavistock Group Inc. (Tavistock Group) for the development of Harmony Cove as a major integrated resort in Trelawny.

Arising from activation of the Disaster Risk Management Act and the impact of Hurricane Beryl on Jamaica, the Minister of Finance and the Public Service granted approval for goods, which the Commissioner of Customs is satisfied are being imported for relief and rehabilitation, to be relieved of import duty and general consumption tax (GCT), in accordance with item 30B of the Second Schedule to the Customs Tariff and section 47 of the GCT Act, over the period July 4, 2024 through August 23, 2024.