Phillips wants G20 to deliver on financing promise

Dr. Peter Phillips, Jamaica’s Finance and Planning Minister, is urging the G20 nations to carry out their promise to assist the Caribbean to mitigate the effects of the financial recession of 2008.      
Dr. Phillips, speaking at a Caribbean breakfast and caucus meeting in Washington D.C on Thursday, expressed concern that the group of  major economies has not kept its promise to provide financial support to the region.He cited the region’s high debt burden, climatic vulnerabilities, along with energy insecurity..                          
Dr Phillips said the Caribbean was most severely affected by the recession and is the region where the effects have been the most prolonged. 

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Phillips wants G20 to deliver on financing promise

Phillips in Washington DC for meetings

Finance and Planning Minister, Dr. Peter Phillips is in Washington DC to attend the 2014 annual International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank board meeting, which is being held from October 8 to 13.

While in Washington, Dr. Phillips will hold discussions with officials from the IMF, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the World Bank, as well as represent Jamaica at a number of other meetings.

The Finance Minister, and Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United States, Stephen Vasciannie; Governor of the Bank of Jamaica, Brian Wynter; Director General of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), Colin Bullock; and Financial Secretary, Devon Rowe, were scheduled to attend and participate in the Caribbean breakfast and caucus meeting on Thursday.

On Friday, Dr. Phillips will be among panellists to discuss the topic: ‘Caribbean Economies, has Recovery Arrived?; and on Saturday, October 11, he will speak on the topic: ‘Private Partnership for Public Service Delivery’. 

On Sunday, Dr. Phillips will address the meeting of the Community of Practice of Finance Ministers on Gender Equality.

Other topics to be discussed and debated at the five-day meeting include: ‘Challenges for job rich and exclusive growth’;  ‘Progress towards ending poverty and bestowing shared prosperity’;  ‘The role of public investment’; ‘Resilient approach for achieving food security’; and ‘How to restore trust in a financial system’.

SOURCE: Jamaica Information Service

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Phillips in Washington DC for meetings

Phillips in Washington DC for meetings

Finance and Planning Minister, Dr. Peter Phillips is in Washington DC to attend the 2014 annual International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank board meeting, which is being held from October 8 to 13.

While in Washington, Dr. Phillips will hold discussions with officials from the IMF, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the World Bank, as well as represent Jamaica at a number of other meetings.

The Finance Minister, and Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United States, Stephen Vasciannie; Governor of the Bank of Jamaica, Brian Wynter; Director General of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), Colin Bullock; and Financial Secretary, Devon Rowe, were scheduled to attend and participate in the Caribbean breakfast and caucus meeting on Thursday.

On Friday, Dr. Phillips will be among panellists to discuss the topic: ‘Caribbean Economies, has Recovery Arrived?; and on Saturday, October 11, he will speak on the topic: ‘Private Partnership for Public Service Delivery’. 

On Sunday, Dr. Phillips will address the meeting of the Community of Practice of Finance Ministers on Gender Equality.

Other topics to be discussed and debated at the five-day meeting include: ‘Challenges for job rich and exclusive growth’;  ‘Progress towards ending poverty and bestowing shared prosperity’;  ‘The role of public investment’; ‘Resilient approach for achieving food security’; and ‘How to restore trust in a financial system’.

SOURCE: Jamaica Information Service

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Phillips in Washington DC for meetings

Phillips to split into two companies

Dutch electronics giant Philips is planning to split the company in two, separating its lighting business from its healthcare division. 

Both companies will continue to be based in the Netherlands and use the Philips name. 

Philips has been streamlining its business by selling off under-performing parts of  the business in recent years. 

Chief Executive Frans van Houten said the move was meant to prepare the company for the next century.

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Phillips to split into two companies

Phillips to split into two companies

Dutch electronics giant Philips is planning to split the company in two, separating its lighting business from its healthcare division. 

Both companies will continue to be based in the Netherlands and use the Philips name. 

Philips has been streamlining its business by selling off under-performing parts of  the business in recent years. 

Chief Executive Frans van Houten said the move was meant to prepare the company for the next century.

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Phillips to split into two companies

Sale of Oceana Hotel nearing completion - Phillips

The divestment of the property, formerly operated as the Oceana Hotel, in downtown Kingston is now in the final phase of completion. An agreement for the sale is before Cabinet.    
Dr. Phillips said the sale will lead to the creation of new jobs, based on the development plans for the restoration of the property to its former use as a hotel, and other initiatives slated for downtown Kingston.

He said other private investors will be establishing offices complexes for call centres and other forms of business process outsourcing.

These, he said, will facilitate “thousands of young people, having left high school and university, who can find employment…”

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Sale of Oceana Hotel nearing completion - Phillips

Phillips warns investors not to rely on gov’t paper

MINISTER of Finance and Planning, Dr Peter Phillips, has warned Jamaican investors against depending on high-yielding government paper to protect them from competition, under the new Extended Fund Facility (EFF) agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Dr Phillips’ caution was aimed primarily at financial institutions and other businesses depending on government paper over the years to remain profitable, as well as commercial traders thriving on the importation of foreign goods.“In many respects, having existed in an environment which over many, many years of high interest rates and a lot of protected sectors, protected from the winds of competition, are able to secure profits simply by holding government paper, many elements in the investor community have lost the knowledge, skill, talent, to really face the competition,” Dr Phillips said Thursday.“Bankers will have to return to the business of banking, rather than just simply purchasing (government) paper. Companies who had huge portfolios will have to learn, again, what it takes to take an idea from concept to production. That, in itself, will take time, but it is also, I suspect, going to cause some degree of apprehension,” he stated.“People who lived simply on the basis of buying things from outside and selling them in the domestic market, if they want to sustain their profit levels, are going to have to look at how they are going to have to stop being traders and become producers, in some way; because those are the things that the programme is intended to achieve, to incentivise production and, in a sense, disincentivise the support of production elsewhere,” he added.He said that while the objectives may not be achieved overnight, the country has to sustain its commitment to that path, “and not lose heart or be overwhelmed in the immediate, painful difficulties which we face”.Dr Phillips was speaking at a press briefing at his ministry, Heroes’ Circle, on Jamaica’s performance in the first quarterly test under the new Extended Fund Facility agreement with the IMF.He said that he believes investor confidence in the EFF agreement is rebuilding, and that this was evident from recently concluded discussions with the holders of Government of Jamaica bonds in both North America and Europe.“I can say we are seeing the slow but steady and significant rebuilding of this confidence, certainly in the international community,” he said.“There are many who did not believe that we would have concluded a programme and indeed they were pleasantly surprised,” the minister said.“I am satisfied with Jamaica’s fulfilment of the prior conditions, and I think we need to emphasise that they were not easily achieved. They were achieved with the sacrifice and contributions of stockholders from all sectors of the country,” he added.Phillips also said he believed that the successful conclusion of the first review under the new programme will add to the level of confidence, but that it would require “sustained implementation” over future quarters, in order to sustain the build-up in confidence.He said that it would also require a more comprehensive communications effort, internationally and domestically, to promote the rationale behind the programme and, at the same time, take advantage of what has already been completed.He pointed out that while the programme is being administered by the Government, it will require the full realisation of its objectives and the participation of the other stakeholders, mainly the investor community.PHILLIPS … we are seeing the slow but steady rebuilding of confidence

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Phillips warns investors not to rely on gov’t paper

Soyini Phillips is Ms Teen JA

SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD Soyini Phillips, a student of Bishop Gibson High School in Manchester, was crowned Miss Teen Jamaica 2013/14 at the Courtleigh Auditorium in St Andrew, on Sunday.

Phillips, who wore the sash Miss Everton J Dewar & Company, not only took the top prize, but a number of sectional prizes as well.She won the Robinson & Clarke Trophy for Most Eloquent; the Rodney Sinclair Memorial Award for Most Intelligent; the Janet Patrick Trophy for Most Aware; a gift basket from Soft Sheen Carson; as well as a Holy Bible, for showing the Best Christian Principles.“It’s a privilege to win this title,” Phillips told the Jamaica Observer. “I can now use this as a means to help less fortunate.”She says she plans to visit a couple of homes and speak with the children there.“I’m planning to have a reading day too,” she said.Phillips, who is currently Miss Bishop Gibson High, says she has her sights set on the Miss World title.“All these competitions are preparing me for that one,” she said.Her prizes included a $500,000 scholarship from the University College of the Caribbean (UCC), which has its main campus at Worthington Avenue, New Kingston, as well as a trip to Miami, Florida.Nayanda Dixon, 16, (Miss Azan Supercentre), was first runner-up while seventeen-year-old Tamara Richards (Miss Dr Clive Lloyd Medical Centre) was second-runner up.Filling out the top five was fourth-placed Kadejah Anderson (Miss Synergy Engineering) and Sheldonny Rodney (Miss LMH Publishing) who was fifth.The judges included former Miss Teen and Miss Jamaica Universe Nadine Thomas and Waterhouse Premier League footballer, Jermaine ‘Tuffy’ Anderson.Last year’s winner was Janielle Lyn. Soyini Phillips (centre), who wears the sash Miss Everton J Dewar & Company, was crowned Miss Teen Jamaica 2013/2014 at the Courtleigh Auditorium, New Kingston, last Sunday. (From left) Nayanda Dixon, first runner-up; fourth placed Kadejah Anderson; fifth placed Sheldonny Rodney; and second runner-up, Tamara Richards.

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Soyini Phillips is Ms Teen JA

Phillips urges support for govt’s economic reform programme

KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — Finance and Planning Minister, Peter Phillips, is again urging national support for Government’s Economic Reform Programme (ERP), which he says aims to reduce the country’s debt, and set a platform for growth.

Speaking at the Manchester Chamber of Commerce’s Biz Clinic 2013 Forum at the Mandeville Hotel, on Thursday, July 25, Phillips, while acknowledging that the programme’s implementation was a pre-requisite for concluding the new US$932.3 million four-year International Monetary Fund (IMF) Extended Fund Facility (EFF), emphasised that it is also a “requirement for us to put our economy on a firm footing to achieve sustained levels of growth.”The programme, components of which have either been implemented or are currently being embarked on, aims to reduce Jamaica’s debt from the current 145 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), to 96 per cent by 2020. These components include: attainment of a 7.5 per cent primary budgetary surplus target; implementation of a National Debt Exchange (NDX) programme; tax reform; and public sector reform, restructuring of salaries to reduce ratio to GDP from 10.6 per cent, as at March 31, 2013, to nine per cent by 2015/16. Saying that there is “a tendency on the part of commentators” to associate the programme solely with the EFF, Dr Phillips stressed that whether or not there was an agreement, “we need these economic reforms, primarily, because we have an unsustainable level of public debt.”“It is true that the pain generally comes before the gain, and we are in a period now where the stresses are being felt. But, it is also the case that we can see the prospects of the growth, which is the focus of the entire programme,” he noted.Dr Phillips pointed out that inflation outturn for the April to June quarter was 1.2 per cent, which fell below the two to three per cent forecast.  Additionally, he said the Net International Reserves  (NIR) stood at just over US$1 billion, representing approximately 13 weeks of goods and services imports. This figure, he said, was US$119 million higher than the outturn at the end of the January to March quarter. “The turnaround will not come instantaneously. But, I think it is important to recognise that there are important opportunities for us to even exceed what, admittedly, are moderate growth targets for the first phase of our programme,” the minister said. “We can…complain about all the things that could be different, or we can become part of the change. I want to urge all of you to inform yourselves and be evangelists for economic reform in the country,” Dr Phillips added.

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Phillips urges support for govt’s economic reform programme

Phillips urges support for govt’s economic reform programme

KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — Finance and Planning Minister, Peter Phillips, is again urging national support for Government’s Economic Reform Programme (ERP), which he says aims to reduce the country’s debt, and set a platform for growth.

Speaking at the Manchester Chamber of Commerce’s Biz Clinic 2013 Forum at the Mandeville Hotel, on Thursday, July 25, Phillips, while acknowledging that the programme’s implementation was a pre-requisite for concluding the new US$932.3 million four-year International Monetary Fund (IMF) Extended Fund Facility (EFF), emphasised that it is also a “requirement for us to put our economy on a firm footing to achieve sustained levels of growth.”The programme, components of which have either been implemented or are currently being embarked on, aims to reduce Jamaica’s debt from the current 145 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), to 96 per cent by 2020. These components include: attainment of a 7.5 per cent primary budgetary surplus target; implementation of a National Debt Exchange (NDX) programme; tax reform; and public sector reform, restructuring of salaries to reduce ratio to GDP from 10.6 per cent, as at March 31, 2013, to nine per cent by 2015/16. Saying that there is “a tendency on the part of commentators” to associate the programme solely with the EFF, Dr Phillips stressed that whether or not there was an agreement, “we need these economic reforms, primarily, because we have an unsustainable level of public debt.”“It is true that the pain generally comes before the gain, and we are in a period now where the stresses are being felt. But, it is also the case that we can see the prospects of the growth, which is the focus of the entire programme,” he noted.Dr Phillips pointed out that inflation outturn for the April to June quarter was 1.2 per cent, which fell below the two to three per cent forecast.  Additionally, he said the Net International Reserves  (NIR) stood at just over US$1 billion, representing approximately 13 weeks of goods and services imports. This figure, he said, was US$119 million higher than the outturn at the end of the January to March quarter. “The turnaround will not come instantaneously. But, I think it is important to recognise that there are important opportunities for us to even exceed what, admittedly, are moderate growth targets for the first phase of our programme,” the minister said. “We can…complain about all the things that could be different, or we can become part of the change. I want to urge all of you to inform yourselves and be evangelists for economic reform in the country,” Dr Phillips added.Like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/jamaicaobserverFollow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/JamaicaObserver

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3. We ask that comments are civil and free of libellous or hateful material. Also please stick to the topic under discussion.

4. Please do not write in block capitals since this makes your comment hard to read.

5. Please don’t use the comments to advertise. However, our advertising department can be more than accommodating if emailed:mailto:advertising@jamaicaobserver.com.

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Phillips urges support for govt’s economic reform programme