Monday, 31 March 2008

The Ministry of Labour is moving to collect $300 million in National Insurance Scheme (NIS) contributions owed by delinquent employers. Buoyed by its success in collecting $135 million in overdue NIS during the 2007/2008 financial year, the Labour Ministry will be putting pressure on employers who fail to pay over workers contributions.Information contained in the 2008/2009 Budget shows that the Government is projected to collect $5 billion in NIS contributions in the new financial year.This is a $1.3 billion increase over the $3.7 billion collected in the current fiscal year which ends on Monday. More than 50,000 persons were added to the list of NIS contributors between last April and this year with a little over 12,000 claims paid out.   Still on the 2008/2009 Estimates of Expenditure, more money has been allocated to Jamaica Trade and Invest, formerly known as Jampro. In the new Budget the investment promotion agency has been allocated $465 million. For 2007/2008 it had a Budget of $189 million. The increased allocation coincides with plans by the Bruce Golding administration to market Jamaica as a major investment hub. Jamaica Trade and Investment is projected to earn $21 million in revenue during the new financial year.