“Accelerating our digital capabilities enables growth which allows us to confront a market environment which is less than stable, decrease costs and allow us to progress as a data-and-insights-driven organisation. Technology allows us to do more with less, and it is felt that investment in technology is actually a deflationary course in an inflationary economy and environment. On the value of technology to reduce costs NCBFG will be focusing heavy on executing its digital roadmap for the remainder of the financial year.”
NCBJ CEO Septimus Blake

“On the asset side, because the life, health and pension (LHP) business holds a tremendous amount of assets as reserves against liabilities, there is exposure to a drop-in asset values due to an economic downturn. However, it must be noted that an insurance company operates both on the asset side of its balance sheet and the liabilities side. Through our actuaries, we have developed a lot of technology to match those and our liabilities so that downward shifts in asset values to a significant degree are dampened by a commensurate downward shift in liability values. So, all in all, we have a fair amount of resilience to any economic downturn.”
Guardian Holdings Limited CEO Ravi Tewari

“Wah me want the people dem fi understand now, they have been doing so well and achieving big things, so we having a big Independence celebration and I want to take this time to say congrats to all a the athlete dem wah a win the gold and the silver and the bronze and everything, and everybody that took part in the World Championships. Big up the Reggae Girlz that made it to the World Cup again. The netball team, my gosh, they are doing so well. I don’t want to talk and leave out anybody, but they really are doing tremendously well. it’s not only the achievements of our athletes that have made us proud, but also their spreading of Jamaican culture. If you realise they have been bringing [our culture] with them wherever they go – dem a dance a the podium, dem a dance when dem win, dem a carry the culture fi real. I don’t want people to take the light from these magnificent athletes that are doing what they supposed to do and making us feel so proud,”
Kemar Christopher Dwaine Ottey aka Ding Dong.

“We will disrupt ourselves rather than being disrupted. We have learned the lessons from Blockbuster and Kodak film. Hence, we are determined that the transformation of our business model will remain within our control. I expect financial technology or fintech apps like Lynk to reduce the cost of doing business while improving the quality of service. Many of these transactions on Lynk are free of cost, so it reduces cost to serve both for the institutions and consumers. From a convenience perspective they can do [transactions] any place and any time and do not have to wait on the opening of a branch. So we see significant shifts. I see it as a facilitator of future trends and the way we have to go.”
NCB Financial President & CEO Patrick Hylton

“There is no cause for alarm at this point. Teachers leave the system every year for reasons such as retirement. In any given year, between five and seven per cent of teachers are on their earned leave, for example, which means that there is always a need for temporary and permanent replacement teachers. I am not aware of the specific numbers who are leaving the system due to migration. So there is turnover in the sector, but to date, I’m not seeing where it’s out of line with anything that we would have seen in other years. If that number changes as we move further into August, then it would be an update. But as far as I can see we have gone through the normal process of approving leave for persons who are eligible to go on their leave [and] teachers who retire. I have not seen any numbers that would cause alarm at this time. As for the anxiety of teachers surrounding the JTC Bill, which a joint select committee of Parliament started discussions on last in February, I have pointed out that even for those who leave, there is no escaping similar requirements for licensing. If teachers are leaving because of that, the environment into which they are going has a similar regime. If they’re going to the US they have to be licensed, if they’re going to Canada, they have to be licensed [but] I haven’t heard that there is any particular departure as a result of the upcoming passing of the JTC Bill. The focus must now be turned to the upcoming school year to ensure that all preparations are in place for students to return. The ministry will again renew its efforts to bring back students to the classroom, which it has not been able to account for, since 2020.”

Education Minister Fayval Williams