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▪ Government of Barbados rating downgraded to CariBBB-

▪ Saint Lucia Electricity Services Limited’s rating reaffirmed at CariBBB

▪ Endeavour Holdings Limited’s rating reaffirmed at CariA+

▪ Gulf City Limited’s rating reaffirmed at CariA+

▪ National Flour Mills Limited’s rating reaffirmed to CariA-

▪ Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago Limited’s rating reaffirmed to CariA

▪ Colonial Fire and General Insurance Company Limited’s initial rating assigned at CariA

▪ Home Mortgage Bank’s rating reaffirmed at CariA

▪ NCB Financial Group Limited’s initial corporate credit rating assigned at CariA

▪ National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited’s rating upgraded to CariBBB+

▪ NCB (Cayman) Limited’s initial corporate credit rating assigned at CariA

▪ The Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica placed on Rating Watch – Developing

▪ Dominica AID Bank’s rating downgraded by 1-notch and placed on Rating Watch – Negative

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REGIONAL

Trinidad and Tobago

Golding Caricom Report: T&T unfair to Jamaica

A lop-sided trading arrangement in favour of Trinidad and Tobago, and

the pricing of local energy products exported to Jamaica have been

cited as significantly negative features involving relations between these

two countries, in the report considering Jamaica's place in the regional

integration movement.

GHL profits up by 5 per cent

Guardian Holdings Ltd (GHL) is reporting a five per cent increase in profit

after tax for the period ended December 31, 2017. The company reported

$410 million in 2017 compared to $390 million the prior year.

TTNGL shares gain $0.14

Overall Market activity resulted from trading in 16 securities of which four

advanced, four declined and eight traded firm.

T&T signs deal with European travel group

Trinidad and Tobago has signed an agreement with DER Touristik Group,

the third largest European travel group following initial discussions in

November last year.

Barbados

‘Action’ if Clico lands sold

Freundel Stuart administration that action will be taken if thousands of

acres of land owned by CLICO, lots of it in St John, are sold between now

and general elections.

Barbados No. 1 with travellers

Seventy thousand travellers across the world have chosen Barbados as

their place to visit in the 2017 Destination Satisfaction Index (DSI)

2017 a solid year for Fortress

“The last quarter of 2017 was another strong one for the Fortress Funds and

capped a year of solid performance,” Cave told investors at the eighth

annual Fortress Investment Forum on Thursday at the Courtney Blackman

Grand Salle.

Barbados continued

Governments to settle UWI debt by end of April

The US$275 million debt owed to the University of the West Indies (UWI) by

Barbados and other Caribbean Governments will be settled by the end of

April.

Jamaica

Gov't contemplates roll back on asset tax

A day after highlighting that there were no new taxes in the 2018/19

budget, Minister of Finance Audley Shaw has announced that the

Government is again contemplating rolling back tax on assets.

Shaw on his budget ... Read my lips, no new taxes

In his Thursday afternoon budget speech, Finance Minister Audley Shaw,

in his characteristically ebullient fashion, showed his audience the pink

sheet with “No Revenue Measures” printed on the front, which for the past

14 years has instead typically contained details of extensive tax

packages.

Guyana

Doubts arise over City Hall $3B debt

A COUNCILLOR is alleging that the Georgetown City Council has a debt

in excess of $3B, partially due to contracts signed off by embattled Town

Clerk Royston King without the support of the full council, but Chairman of

the City’s Finance Committee Oscar Clarke said the allegations are

baseless.

Call to action on business, health, education, ICT as curtain comes down

on IDPAD Summit

As the International Decade of People of African Descent (IDPAD) Summit

2018 came to an end Sunday, the body identified its plans for the future

through a presentation of the strategies discussed during several

roundtable sessions.

Antigua and Barbuda

EU to ‘grey list’ Antigua and Barbuda

Antigua and Barbuda will be added to a European Union (E.U.) “grey list”

of countries not in compliance with the E.U.’s tax avoidance standards.

Dominica

The UK to provide £65 million for Dominica’s climate resilient bid

The Government of the United Kingdom in the upcoming years will

provide Dominica with £65 million to assist the country in becoming the

first climate resilient nation in the world.

The Bahamas

Revenue Unit's Life Extended Following $120-$150m Score

The Government has extended the life of its Revenue Enhancement Unit

by one year, following a "very successful" 2017 first half when it collected

between $120-$150 million.

Bahamas finance minister responds to EU tax haven blacklist fears

In a media statement addressing the possibility of The Bahamas being

placed on a European Union tax haven blacklist, minister for finance,

Peter Turnquest, discussed the position with the EU and the work already

done to avoid the blacklisting.

Panama

Panama construction on the upswing

“The District of Panama led the way in new construction, additions and

repairs in the first month of 2018. Figures from the Comptroller General

show an increase of 22% over Jan. 2917.

20 countries affecting Panama interests listed

Panama has joined the US in complaining about tariffs in other countries

and has issued a list that includes 20 jurisdictions in Latin America, Europe,

and Asia that apply discriminatory or restrictive measures to the Republic

affecting economic and commercial interests.

Haiti

Towards increased production of the banana sector

Thursday, a delegation led by Eugene Branly the Director General of the

Ministry of Agriculture, composed of officials of the Directorate of

Agricultural Infrastructure (DIA) and other officials of the Ministry met in

Arcahaie, members of the Association Irrigants of the Arcahaie Plain

(AIPA), who has been working for over 20 years in water management in

this area and currently has 450 active members.

Cuba

Cuba receives its one-millionth visitor despite US warnings

The arrival on Thursday of its first one-millionth vacationer to Cuba reaffirms

the recognition of the island as a peaceful and safe destination despite

the travel warnings issued by the US State Department.

Other Regional

Golding Report on CARICOM highlights dangers in citizenship by

investment programmes

In its detailed “Report of the Commission to Review Jamaica’s Relations

within the CARICOM and CARIFORUM Frameworks”, the committee

headed by former Jamaican prime minister, Bruce Golding, was

concerned about the way in which citizenship by investment programmes

(CIP) were not being monitored throughout the region.

St Kitts-Nevis, Bahamas and USVI set to be blacklisted by EU

A decision by European Union tax experts to blacklist St Kitts and Nevis,

The Bahamas and US Virgin Islands is set to be endorsed by EU finance

ministers at a regular monthly meeting next Tuesday. The 28-member EU

bloc is also expected to delist Bahrain, the Marshall Islands and Saint

Lucia.

INTERNATIONAL

United States

World stocks bask in U.S. jobs data glow

World stocks surged to a two-week high on Monday after strong U.S. jobs

data at the end of last week helped take the edge off investors’ concerns

about the potential outbreak of trade war between the United States and

other major economies.

Wall Street set to open higher as inflation worries ease

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher opening for Wall Street on

Monday, building on gains from last week’s strong February jobs data that

allayed fears of rising inflation and faster interest rate hikes.

United Kingdom

Sterling rises on struggling greenback, flat vs euro

Sterling rose on Monday, extending its rise from last week as a revival in risk

appetite prompted investors to load up on the British currency though

concerns over Brexit progress at an EU summit later this month capped

gains.

Europe

EU says expects contacts, no formal talks with U.S. on tariffs this week

The European Commission said it expected to be in contact with the

United States over steel and aluminium tariffs this week but added that no

formal talks were scheduled.

Euro rally fades as risk appetite boosts higher-yielding FX

The euro’s rally on Monday fizzled as a more-dovish-than-expected

central bank meeting last week continued to weigh on the single

currency, while a revival in risk appetite hurt the dollar against higher-

yielding currencies.

U.S. jobs report boosts European stocks

A strong jobs report out of the U.S. boosted European shares on Friday

after a sluggish start to trading, while U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminium hit

steelmakers.

China

Hong Kong’s Red-Hot Housing Market Shows No Signs of Cooling

Demand in Hong Kong’s red-hot housing market shows no signs of

abating, with Wheelock & Co. selling all 750 apartments offered at its new

Kowloon project over the weekend.

China Banking Crisis Warning Signal Still Flashing, BIS Says

China, Canada and Hong Kong are among the economies most at risk of

a banking crisis, according to early-warning indicators compiled by the

Bank for International Settlements.

Japan

Nikkei rises to 1-1/2-week high; suspected scandal caps earlier gains

Japan’s Nikkei share average rose to a 1-1/2-week high on Monday

helped by tech shares, but early gains were trimmed as a suspected

cronyism scandal dampened sentiment.

Global

South Korea will 'deploy all possible means' to respond to U.S. tariffs:

finance minister

South Korea will “deploy all possible means” to respond to U.S. President

Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium imports,

the country’s finance minister said.

Oil, briefly up on lower rig counts, falls on U.S. output outlook

Oil prices fell on Monday on expectations that U.S. output will rise this year,

erasing earlier gains buoyed by lower weekly U.S. rig counts and falling

U.S. unemployment.

Golding Caricom Report: T&T unfair to Jamaica Monday 12th March, 2018 – Trinidad Express Newspapers

A lop-sided trading arrangement in favour of Trinidad and Tobago, and

the pricing of local energy products exported to Jamaica have been

cited as significantly negative features involving relations between these

two countries, in the report considering Jamaica's place in the regional

integration movement.

In a chapter looking at 'regional economic integration and its relevance

to Jamaica,' the report said approximately 75 per cent of Jamaica's

imports from Caricom emanate from Trinidad and Tobago. It said this

country was now the third-largest source of imports into Jamaica, behind

the USA and Venezuela.

Crude oil and petroleum products account for 75 per cent of this country's

exports to Jamaica.

'While this produces a lop-sided trade balance, it must be recognised that

were these products not supplied by Trinidad and Tobago, they would

have to be imported from elsewhere and it would therefore have no

impact on our overall trade balance,' the report said.

It said further that Jamaica's imports of manufactured goods, especially

processed foods, from Trinidad and Tobago account for 7.5 per cent of

this country's manufacturing exports. Jamaica's imports from Caricom

overall, the report said, as a percentage of its total imports, increased

from 10.4 per cent to 15.9 per cent in the last 20 years, while its total

exports increased from 3 per cent to 5.1 per cent over the same period.

The report was based on widespread consultations among Jamaicans

and a wide range of Caricom nationals across many disciplines. These

were conducted by a team of reviewers brought together under a

commission, headed by former Jamaican prime minister Bruce Golding. It

was called together by the current Prime Minister, Andrew Holness.

It was released last month but had been under intense discussions in the

Jamaica Cabinet for several months last year.

'Anecdotal but credible evidence suggests that some Jamaican

producers, primarily manufacturers, have been negatively affected and

even forced out of business because of their inability to compete with

imports from Caricom,' the report said, adding that it was likely that some

of those manufacturers would have been displaced in any case because

of a lack of competitiveness. It said this could be borne out by the

presence in that market, of products from third countries, such as China

and others in East Asia, that are subject to the Common External Tariff, but

are able to compete with Trinidad-made products on supermarket

shelves in Jamaica.

And in a sub-section of this chapter looking at 'the pricing of energy from

Trinidad and Tobago,' the report said this was 'undoubtedly one of the

most vexing issues in Jamaica's relationship with Caricom'.

Jamaican stakeholders express discontent Jamaican stakeholders have

been reported as expressing discontent on two major points in this regard.

These are outlined as follows: Trinidad and Tobago provides energy to its

domestic consumers and especially its producers at a cheaper price than

that exported to Jamaica. And Jamaica's obligation to apply the

Common External Tariff to energy supplies imported from elsewhere

deprives it of the ability to 'play the market' and secure cheaper supplies.

These factors, it said, based on arguments put forward to the commission,

have not only placed Jamaican producers at an unfair disadvantage

within Caricom, but have also undermined their ability to compete in

other markets, and are thereby discriminatory, and a breach of the spirit, if

not the letter, of the Caricom Treaty.'

The report revisited long-standing disputes between both countries on this

item, including a legal opinion from a former Caricom general counsel, as

it related specifically to a frustrated attempt by Jamaica to import

liquefied natural gas from Trinidad and Tobago.

'The issue turns not only on the question of whether Trinidad and Tobago is

subsidising energy supplies in its domestic market, but also whether

Jamaica, as a member of Caricom, is entitled to benefit from such a

subsidy, under the treaty provisions, for non-discrimination on the basis of

nationality,' the report said.

It quoted from the opinion by the former Caricom general counsel, which

supports the argument that the issue constitutes discrimination.

But, the report said, the authorities in Port of Spain contend that this

country is only obliged to provide this benefit to other community

nationals purchasing and utilising such commodities 'within the territorial

boundary of Trinidad and Tobago'.

Heavy subsidy for T& TEC

Jamaica's significant grievance on this matter also involves its examination

of what the report said was the evidence that the Government in Port of

Spain admitted to heavy subsidies to the Trinidad and Tobago Electricity

Commission (T& TEC). It said the Government acknowledged a 'financial

contribution' to T& TEC, amounting to $31 billion over the last ten years.

This, the report concluded, was clear indication that 'Trinidad and Tobago

does, indeed, subsidise the cost of energy to its domestic consumers and

even more preferentially, to its producers. Their products are exported to

Jamaica and hence compete unfairly with Jamaican producers as well

as impair their ability to export to third countries. It therefore prejudices

trade and prevents, restricts or distorts competition in Jamaica,' the report

has concluded.

'A complicating issue that arises is that all of the electricity that Trinidad

and Tobago supplies to its domestic producers in relation to which the

subsidy allegations are made, is derived from natural gas, not crude oil,

most of which it exports and which is largely what Jamaica imports,' it

said.

And while it said that Trinidad and Tobago has put forward this argument

as well, in defence of its pricing policy towards Jamaica, the reported

contended provocatively that Jamaica is not without 'some leverage' in

the matter.

'Because it accounts for a substantial portion of the market for Trinidad

and Tobago oil exports,' it said, adding that it was known that discussions

have been on-going, 'at the highest level, not for the first time,' with a view

towards resolution.

'But we are also conscious that a resolution of the matter that is

favourable to Jamaica carries huge domestic political risks for the

Government of Trinidad and Tobago,' it added.

<< Back to news headlines >>

GHL profits up by 5 per cent Saturday 10th March, 2018 – Trinidad and Tobago Guardian

Guardian Holdings Ltd (GHL) is reporting a five per cent increase in profit

after tax for the period ended December 31, 2017. The company reported

$410 million in 2017 compared to $390 million the prior year.

Cash and cash equivalents in 2017 was $2 billion compared to the prior

year, where it was $1.7 billion. Its life, health and pension business

continues to be the revenue-driver for the period, recording $569.5 million

for the period compared to $634 million in the prior year. Deputy

chairman Henry Ganteaume, commenting on the performance, said the

group had achieved “an excellent” result for 2017, despite the two

catastrophic hurricanes which hit the Caribbean.

He said, “After establishing net claims reserves of $99 million, group profit

attributable to equity shareholders for the year ended December 31, 2017

amounted to $407 million, an increase of $11 million or three per cent over

2016.”

Adding that despite social and economic uncertainty in T&T and only

marginally better conditions in many of its other markets, “gross and net

written premiums proved resilient. The marginal decline from 2016 in

premium income is substantially attributable to a non-recurring single-

premium block of business acquired in 2016 by our life, health and

pensions (LPH) segment. Excluding this transaction in 2016, net written

premiums in both our LHP and property and casualty segments increased

by approximately ten per cent,” he said.

The company’s net income from insurance underwriting activities was

$403 million, which was $210 million lower than 2016. The decrease was

owing to the hurricane-related losses and secondly, “the inclusion of

favourable actuarial adjustments in our LHP segment in 2016, following the

adoption of the Caribbean policy premium method of determining policy

owner reserves.”


TTNGL shares gain $0.14 Saturday 10th March, 2018 – Trinidad and Tobago Guardian

Overall Market activity resulted from trading in 16 securities of which four

advanced, four declined and eight traded firm.

Trading activity on the First Tier Market registered a volume of 193,286

shares crossing the floor of the Exchange valued at $1,292,560.29.

Sagicor Financial Corporation Ltd was the volume leader with 75,657

shares changing hands for a value of $593,907.45, followed by

GraceKennedy Ltd with a volume of 61,893 shares being traded for

$207,341.55.

LJ Williams Ltd B contributed 20,000 shares with a value of $15,000, while

JMMB Group Ltd added 10,100 shares valued at $20,2000.

Trinidad and Tobago NGL Ltd registered the day’s largest gain, increasing

$0.14 to end the day at $27.65. Conversely, Guardian Holdings Ltd

registered the day’s largest decline, falling $0.15 to close at $15.50.

The Second Tier Market did not witness any activity. Mora Ven Holdings

Ltd remained at $14.49.


T&T signs deal with European travel group Monday 12th March, 2018 – Trinidad and Tobago Guardian

Trinidad and Tobago has signed an agreement with DER Touristik Group,

the third largest European travel group following initial discussions in

November last year.

Tourism Minister Shamfa Cudjoe, who is attending the ITB Berlin, billed as

the world’s leading travel trade show, said the German- based group was

“looking at bringing its campus to Trinidad and Tobago and we have

been in discussion since October November last year…”

“We have signed on the dotted line today to say that yes, it is on, we

have finalised arrangements and we are really excited about this new

initiative, exposing Trinidad and Tobago to the German market.”

She said the German group would be bringing over 200 tour agents to

Trinidad and Tobago.

“Of course, there are going to be pre-trips in different Caribbean islands,

Tobago being one, Aruba, Martinique, Guadeloupe and a number of

other islands,” Cudjoe said.

“Everything will come together …in Trinidad and that will expose our

stakeholders to seeing how the German tour operators operate and

expose these tour operators to all the wonderful things Trinidad and

Tobago has to offer.

“So, from the perspective of the government of Trinidad and Tobago…this

is really good news and we are excited about it.”

She said during the ITB, her delegation had been holding talks with various

airlines, including WestJet, in order to increase airlift to T&T. (CMC)


EU to ‘grey list’ Antigua and Barbuda Saturday 10th March, 2018 – The Antigua Observer

Antigua and Barbuda will be added to a European Union (E.U.) “grey list”

of countries not in compliance with the E.U.’s tax avoidance standards.

The information surfaced in international media reports on Friday, and

Prime Minister Gaston Browne indicated that his government is aware of

the move.

According to the E.U., a grey listing indicates that the country does not

respect E.U. anti-tax avoidance standards but has committed to change

its practices. Antigua and Barbuda and the other countries hit by the

September hurricanes were given a reprieve when the E.U. added 17

countries to the blacklist in December.

The twin island state registered on the E.U. radar because of its varied

onshore and offshore financial services tax rates which the E.U. wants

harmonised. The domestic corporation tax is currently at 25 percent while

offshore banking tax ranges between one and 2.5 percent.

“Large OECD countries are now making the claim that profitable

corporations are shifting their profits overseas to avoid paying taxes, and

they’re now saying that countries that facilitate that type of shifting of

business to provide these corporations with a tax shield, that they will be

grey-listed or blacklisted. Luckily for us, we’re only grey-listed,” Browne

said.

“We have given a commitment that by the end of this year, 2018, we’ll

harmonise the rates at 20 percent so the offshore banks, they will now

have to pay 20 percent.”

The moves to be adopted next week by E.U. finance ministers will see a

number of other Caribbean states added or removed from the bloc’s

blacklist – those countries considered tax havens. Those that will be

included are The Bahamas, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and St. Kitts and Nevis,

while St. Lucia will be removed. Trinidad and Tobago, which was added in

December, remains on the list.

The other countries that will be added to the grey list are Anguilla, The

British Virgin Islands, and Dominica.

In announcing the reprieve for the hurricane-hit islands in December, the

E.U. stated that those jurisdictions “will be asked to address the concerns

identified as soon as the situation improves, with a view to resolving them

by the end of 2018. By February 2018, they will be contacted to prepare

the next steps.”

Blacklisting could lead to a loss of E.U. aid, damage to a country’s

reputation, and stricter controls on its financial transactions with the E.U.


The UK to provide £65 million for Dominica’s climate resilient bid Sunday 11th March, 2018 – Dominica News Online

The Government of the United Kingdom in the upcoming years will

provide Dominica with £65 million to assist the country in becoming the

first climate resilient nation in the world.

Head of the Department for International Development (DFID) Colleen

Wainright, made the disclosure at the official launch of the Climate

Resilience Executing Agency of Dominica (CREAD) on Friday.

“In 2015 Tropical Storm Erika caused damage equivalent to around 90% of

Dominica’s annual Gross Domestic Product and only two years later with

Hurricane Maria. We have seen that figure rise to over 200%,” Wainright

said.

She said that with the frequency and intensity of hurricanes only like to

increase, Dominica has recognized that it must build back better and

develop infrastructure, insurance and other support systems that have a

much stronger chance of surviving future storms and disasters.

Bearing commendations from the UK Government for “the vision and

aspiration of the Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit who is determined to

make Dominica the first climate resilient country in the world,” Wainright

announced how the money would be allocated.

“We have recently announced £25 million of new funding to rebuild and

strengthen the water system across the island so in the event of a future

hurricane the supply of drinking water will either continue or can be

quickly re-established.”

She noted that £25 million will also go towards rehabilitating the road from

Loubiere to Bagatelle which was essentially destroyed during the

hurricane.

“We will strengthen key health facilities across the island so they can

better withstand hurricanes and be able to provide essential medical

support in the aftermath of a natural disaster,” she said.

The DFID official said that the funds will also help to create jobs and boost

the employment skills and prospects of young Dominican people.


Golding Report on CARICOM highlights dangers in citizenship by

investment programmes Sunday 11th March, 2018 – Caribbean News Now

In its detailed “Report of the Commission to Review Jamaica’s Relations

within the CARICOM and CARIFORUM Frameworks”, the committee

headed by former Jamaican prime minister, Bruce Golding, was

concerned about the way in which citizenship by investment programmes

(CIP) were not being monitored throughout the region.

The report’s recommendations asks the Caribbean Community

(CARICOM) to: “Establish an agreed framework with appropriate

protocols and safeguards regarding the terms, conditions, qualifications

and restrictions in relation to the operation of citizenship by investment

programmes including prior consultations or sharing of information with

other member states.”

The recommendation was based on findings by the Golding Commission,

which criticised the CIP practice, calling it “citizenship for sale”, driven by

immediate investments rather than having a long-term strategy.

The Golding Report is also concerned about the vulnerability to abuses of

the programmes and stated that “Caribbean citizenship is highly sought

after because it is relatively cheap, quick and uncomplicated and can

afford the holder visa free entry to as many as 132 countries, including the

UK, Canada and the countries of the Schengen area.”

Along with several arrests of persons traveling through the Caribbean to

larger, developed markets in Canada and the USA, high-profile and

persons of concern have also showed up on the radar having separate

passports under the different country variations for these programmes.

Current White House chief of staff, General John Kelly, back in March

2015, said in a presentation before the US Senate’s Armed Services

Committee, that “cash for passports” programmes were among the

security threats faced by the US saying they “could be exploited by

criminals, terrorists or other nefarious actors.”

According to an advisory issued in May 2014 by the US Treasury’s Financial

Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and still in force, foreign individuals

were abusing the St Kitts and Nevis CIP to obtain passports for the purpose

of engaging in illicit financial activity.

Specifically, FinCEN believes that illicit actors are abusing the St Kitts and

Nevis programme to acquire citizenship in order to mask their identity and

geographic background for the purpose of evading US or international

sanctions or engaging in other financial crime.

For example, FinCEN said that several Iranian nationals designated by the

Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) obtained passports issued through

the St Kitts and Nevis CBI programme.

In particular, FinCEN advised that US financial institutions should conduct

risk-based customer due diligence to mitigate the risk that a customer is

disguising his or her identity with an St Kitts and Nevis passport in order to

evade sanctions or engage in other financial crime.

In its 2017 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, the U.S. State

Department also directly warned Antigua and Barbuda’s CIP could be

susceptible to money laundering and other financial crimes.

The Golding Report acknowledged concerns from the USA, Canada and

EU and other OECD countries over the abuse of the programme,

notwithstanding the contributions of 20 percent and up to 35 percent of

total revenues of CIP operating countries.

Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, and Saint

Lucia all have CIPs. The Bahamas passed into a Commercial Enterprise Bill

that fast-tracks work permits for persons seeking to invest over $250,000 in

the country through foreign direct investment. Belize suspended its CIP in

2002 after much controversy.

CIP consultants in the Caribbean, most notably Henley & Partners, have

also come under fire for facilitating the issue of questionable passports

without any oversight, causing greater concerns that the industry is more

structured as a business model, but without firm regional or governmental

standardized practice to facilitate these arrangements.

According to its website, Henley and Partners manages programmes in

Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, and Saint Lucia.


St Kitts-Nevis, Bahamas and USVI set to be blacklisted by EU Friday 9th March, 2018 – Caribbean News Now

A decision by European Union tax experts to blacklist St Kitts and Nevis,

The Bahamas and US Virgin Islands is set to be endorsed by EU finance

ministers at a regular monthly meeting next Tuesday. The 28-member EU

bloc is also expected to delist Bahrain, the Marshall Islands and Saint

Lucia.

Earlier this month, during a European Parliamentary debate session,

Members of Parliament for Europe (MEPs) questioned EU finance ministers

over their removal of several countries from the tax haven blacklist in

January.

During the EU parliament debate it was decided to set up new

committees to build on the work of TAXE 1 and 2 and the PANA inquiries

to support the efforts of the TAXE 3.

The TAXE 3, agreed upon by the EU Parliament’s ‘conference of

presidents’, is an initiative stated to have a 12-month mandate. The

initiative was started immediately upon ratification by the EU Parliament

with the explicit intent of investigating financial crimes, tax evasion and

avoidance.

The other six remaining EU blacklisted countries are American Samoa,

Guam, Namibia, Palau, Samoa and Trinidad and Tobago that will now be

in addition to St Kitts and Nevis, The Bahamas and US Virgin Islands.

The EU has made a distinction between tax avoidance and tax evasion

with:

• Tax avoidance meaning the use legal instruments in order to pay as little

tax as possible, for example by shifting profits to a low-tax country or

deducting interest payments for loans with artificially-inflated interest

rates. The EU’s anti-tax avoidance directive comes into force in January

2019; and

• Tax evasion or tax fraud meaning the use of illegal practices to avoid

paying taxes, for example by not declaring profits or using various ways to

avoid paying VAT.

No EU countries were screened or investigated under these latest

provisions on the premise that they were already in line with EU standards

against tax avoidance.


EU says expects contacts, no formal talks with U.S. on tariffs this week Monday 12th March, 2018 – Reuters

The European Commission said it expected to be in contact with the

United States over steel and aluminium tariffs this week but added that no

formal talks were scheduled.

“No meetings as such are planned at the moment between U.S. and EU

authorities,” a spokesman for the European Commission told a regular

news conference.

“But we expect contacts to take place at several levels during the week,”

the spokesman added, noting that the format of such contacts was still to

be defined.

The EU and Japan urged the United States on Saturday to grant them

exemptions from metal import tariffs, with Tokyo calling for “calm-headed

behaviour”.


World stocks bask in U.S. jobs data glow Monday 12th March, 2018 – Reuters

World stocks surged to a two-week high on Monday after strong U.S. jobs

data at the end of last week helped take the edge off investors’ concerns

about the potential outbreak of trade war between the United States and

other major economies.

European shares shot up across the board, following their Asian

counterparts, while emerging market currencies strengthened as investors

bought up so-called riskier assets and sold “safe haven” securities such as

gold and government bonds.

Markets have been cheering Friday’s U.S. non-farm payrolls data which

showed a hefty 313,000 rise in jobs, but also revealed that annual growth

in average hourly earnings had slowed to 2.6 percent after spiking in

January.

This suggested that the world’s largest economy is experiencing a high

growth without a corresponding spike in inflation.

This is referred to in the market as a “Goldilocks” trend; giving investors an

incentive to buy assets such as equities and high-yield bonds without

having to fear tighter central bank policy.

“Friday’s U.S. employment data was about as perfect a set of figures as

you can get from a policy maker’s point of view. The increase in jobs was

nothing short of amazing,” said Marshall Gittler, a strategist at ACLS

Global, a currency strategy firm.

“In other words, it was a ‘Goldilocks’ report: not too hot, not too cold, just

right.”

As a result, the S&P500 surged more than 1.7 percent on Friday — its

second-best day of the year so far — and futures pricing ESc1 pointed to

another day of gains on Monday. The warm glow extended around the

globe, with Asian and European shares gaining.

Germany's DAX .GDAXI led gains in Europe, rising 0.9 percent, and MSCI's

world equity index .MIWD00000PUS, which tracks shares in 47 countries, hit

a two-week high.

Inflation data from the world’s largest economy is due on Tuesday, and

the question is how signs of economic strength may affect the U.S. Federal

Reserve’s pace of monetary tightening.

“The jobs report will reinforce the confidence the Fed has on economic

momentum - it’s a very solid reading, plus you add a bit of (fiscal) stimulus

on top,” said Investec economist Victoria Clarke.

“But they are a cautious institution who will be wary of reading too much

into one print.”

Earlier, MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS

climbed 1.3 percent, poised for a third session of gains.

South Korea .KS11 rose 1 percent, while Australia's main index added 0.7

percent, boosted by mining shares on news that Australia could be

exempt from new U.S. trade tariffs on steel and aluminium imports.

Concerns over those tariffs have been weighing on European stocks, with

the main pan-European stock index hitting a seven-month low at the start

of the month. It has recovered somewhat from that trough to rise 0.3

percent on Monday.

The jobs news also lifted currencies such as the Mexican peso and

Canadian and Australian dollars, while weighing on the safe-haven yen.

Investors had trimmed holdings of yen last week on news U.S. President

Donald Trump was prepared to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong

Un, a potential breakthrough in nuclear tensions in the region.

U.S. officials on Sunday defended Trump’s decision, saying the move was

not just for show and not a gift to Pyongyang.

Brent crude LCOc1 gave up some of Friday’s gains, dropping 35 cents to

$65.14 a barrel, as rising U.S. output loomed over markets despite a

slowdown in rig drilling activity.

Gold prices XAU= also slipped half a percent to $1,315.81 an ounce, as

demand for safe haven investments fell.


South Korea will 'deploy all possible means' to respond to U.S. tariffs:

finance minister Monday 12th March, 2018 – Reuters

South Korea will “deploy all possible means” to respond to U.S. President

Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium imports,

the country’s finance minister said.

Last week, Trump pressed ahead with steep import tariffs of 25 percent on

steel and 10 percent for aluminium, but exempted Canada and Mexico

and offered the possibility of excluding other allies, backtracking from an

earlier “no-exceptions” stance.

South Korea, the third-largest steel exporter to the United States and a

strategic ally on the Korean peninsula, has already put in a request for a

waiver.

“We will make clear what our stance is,” Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon

said on Monday during a policy meeting in Seoul.

“(The government) will deploy all possible means to respond to U.S. steel

tariffs measures and make an all-out effort,” he added, without

elaborating.

South Korea’s minister for trade, Kim Hyun-chong, who has visited the

United States twice in recent weeks to seek ways to minimize the damage

to South Korean steelmakers, will depart for the United States on Tuesday,

a ministry spokeswoman said.

South Korea’s government will also decide on whether to join the

Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership within the first

half of this year, Kim said at the meeting.

Eleven countries, including Japan and Canada, have signed the

landmark Asia-Pacific CPTPP trade agreement without the United States in

what one minister called a powerful signal against protectionism and

trade wars.

“The government has been reviewing economic validity of CPTPP and will

draw agreement between the related government agencies about

joining it within the first half,” Kim said.


Oil, briefly up on lower rig counts, falls on U.S. output outlook Monday 12th March, 2018 – Reuters

Oil prices fell on Monday on expectations that U.S. output will rise this year,

erasing earlier gains buoyed by lower weekly U.S. rig counts and falling

U.S. unemployment.

Brent crude futures LCOc1 were at $65.11 per barrel at 0920 GMT, down

38 cents from their previous close.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 fell 27 cents to

$61.77 a barrel.

Helping the dip, hedge funds and money managers cut their bullish

wagers on U.S. crude oil for the first time in three weeks, data showed on

Friday.

The reduction came as gross short positions on the New York Mercantile

Exchange 3067651MSHT climbed to their highest level in nearly a month.

“Rising production and inventory in the United States has been reducing

fund sentiment since it peaked at the end of January,” ING said in a note.

Crude prices had risen on Friday and earlier on Monday after the U.S.

economy added the biggest number of jobs in more than 1-1/2 years in

February.

In oil markets, U.S. energy companies last week cut oil rigs for the first time

in almost two months RIG-OL-USA-BHI, with drillers cutting back four rigs, to

796, Baker Hughes (GE.N) energy services firm said on Friday.

Despite the lower rig count, which is an early indicator of future output,

activity remains much higher than a year ago. Then, 617 rigs were active,

and most analysts expect U.S. crude oil production C-OUT-T-EIA, which has

already risen by over a fifth since mid-2016, to 10.37 million barrels per day

(bpd), to expand further.

“Permian and Bakken shale basins still saw active oil rigs rising by 2 and 3

last week, respectively, and are likely to keep U.S. oil production on

increasing trend,” ING said.

The United States has become the world’s no. 2 crude oil producer,

ahead of top exporter Saudi Arabia. Only Russia pumps more, at nearly 11

million bpd.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), together

with a group of other producers led by Russia, has been withholding

production since the start of 2017 to prop up prices.

It is not clear when the deal to withhold output will end, but Iranian oil

minister Bijan Zanganeh said OPEC could agree in June to begin easing

current oil production curbs in 2019, the Wall Street Journal reported on

Sunday.


Wall Street set to open higher as inflation worries ease Monday 13th March, 2018 – Reuters

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher opening for Wall Street on

Monday, building on gains from last week’s strong February jobs data that

allayed fears of rising inflation and faster interest rate hikes.

Wall Street’s main indexes closed up nearly 2 percent on Friday after data

showed U.S. job additions in February grew by a strong clip but wage

growth was sluggish.

Traders of U.S. short-term interest-rate futures kept bets the Federal

Reserve will stick to three rate hikes this year.

A month ago, the markets were gripped by fears of higher wages leading

to price pressures, triggering a selloff that punctured the stock market’s

strong rally in 2018.

However, the S&P and the Dow have nearly reclaimed those losses. The

S&P 500 .SPX is just 3 percent below the record highs hit on Jan. 26 and the

Dow .DJI is 4.8 percent away from its peak.

Rapid gains in technology stocks have already powered the Nasdaq .IXIC

back to its record levels.

Last week’s gains were also supported by U.S. President Donald Trump’s

softer stance on his decision to impose import tariffs on steel and

aluminium by exempting Canada and Mexico.

At 7:01 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMc1 were up 100 points, or 0.39 percent.

S&P 500 e-minis ESc1 rose 10 points, or 0.36 percent, and Nasdaq 100 e-

minis NQc1 gained 41.75 points, or 0.59 percent.

Investors will pore over the next round of data on consumer prices and

retail sales due this week for signs of rising price pressure.

Among stocks, shares of Orexigen Therapeutics (OREX.O) sank about 70

percent in premarket trading after the drug maker filed for Chapter 11

bankruptcy protection. Lumentum Holdings (LITE.O) rose 5.5 percent after

the laser and optical fibre specialist said it would buy optical components

producer Oclaro (OCLR.O) for about $1.7 billion in a cash and stock deal.

Oclaro jumped 25 percent.


Euro rally fades as risk appetite boosts higher-yielding FX Monday 12th March, 2018 – Reuters

The euro’s rally on Monday fizzled as a more-dovish-than-expected

central bank meeting last week continued to weigh on the single

currency, while a revival in risk appetite hurt the dollar against higher-

yielding currencies.

Strong U.S. jobs numbers and receding fears over a trade war helped a

rebound in markets, and when markets have rallied this year the euro has

tended to benefit against the dollar, as traders bet investors will continue

to put more money into a region where the economies are booming.

But the euro fell last week as the European Central Bank said inflation

expectations remained subdued and that monetary policy would remain

“reactive”.

After initially rising to a session high of $1.2341 on Monday, the euro

dropped 0.1 percent to $1.2297. The single currency, after a strong start to

2018, remains below the three-year peak hit in February of $1.2556.

“The euro is still suffering in the aftermath of the ECB meeting,” said Alvin

Tan, a currencies analyst at Societe Generale. “The cross currents are

affecting the euro.”

The dollar, which has tended to fall when risk appetite is rising, meanwhile

reversed its falls to rise slightly. The greenback against a basket of

currencies rose 0.1 percent at 1130 GMT.

With little crucial economic data due in Europe, traders will focus on a

meeting of the euro zone finance ministers on Monday for any comments

on trade protectionism after President Donald Trump’s decision to impose

some tariffs.

Many analysts remain bullish on the euro.

“With the euro zone enjoying a massive 3.5 percent GDP current account

surplus and the euro not particularly volatile, we suspect it will be very

hard for (euro zone) finance officials to talk down the euro,” said Viraj

Patel, an FX strategist at ING.

The strong U.S. job growth data released on Friday was counterbalanced

by slower increases in wages, resulting in money market traders sticking to

bets that the Fed would raise interest rates three times this year, with only

around a one-in-four chance seen for a fourth-rate hike in 2018.

Higher-yielding currencies like the Australian and New Zealand dollars also

rose, 0.2 percent and 0.3 percent respectively.

YEN GAINS

The yen, which tends to perform well when markets are anxious, gained as

traders eyed a suspected Japan cronyism scandal involving the sale of

state-owned land for its impact.

The name of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s wife was removed

from documents regarding the issue, media said on Monday, as pressure

mounted on the premier and his ally Finance Minister Taro Aso over a

possible cover-up.

Abe has denied that he or his wife did favours for a school operator and

has said he would resign if evidence was found that they had. Aso has

apologised for his ministry’s actions over the documents but said that he

had no intention of stepping down.

Market participants said the political developments in Japan helped

temper gains in Japanese equities and lent some support to the yen.

The yen rose 0.2 percent to 106.58 yen, edging away from a one-week

high of 107.05 yen set on Friday.

The dollar had risen against the yen last week as risk appetite improved on

hopes for a breakthrough in the standoff over North Korea’s nuclear

weapons programme, and reduced concern about an escalation in

trade protectionism.


U.S. jobs report boosts European stocks Monday 12th March, 2018 – Reuters

A strong jobs report out of the U.S. boosted European shares on Friday

after a sluggish start to trading, while U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminium hit

steelmakers.

It was strong wage growth last month that fanned speculation of faster

rate rises in the United States, causing a rout in the bond market and

hammering world equities.

But the jobs report for February showed much slower than expected

wage growth, soothing investors who had been concerned about a faster

rate of inflation.

The jobs report sent stocks higher across Europe as the slowdown in wage

gains pointed to inflation rising only gradually. The pan-European STOXX

600 was up 0.4 percent by the close.

“The monthly employment report delivered a number of surprises, many of

them running contra to historic performances during the late stages of an

economic expansion,” said BNY Mellon analysts.

Interest-rate sensitive high dividend-paying stocks such as Unilever

(UNc.AS), Nestle (NESN.S), and British American Tobacco (BATS.L) were

among the top boosts to the STOXX 600.

While the basic resources sector .SXPP was the best-performing,

steelmakers were notable laggards: Voestalpine (VOES.VI), Outokumpu

(OUT1V.HE) and Arcelormittal (MT.AS) fell 0.6 to 1.5 percent after the new

U.S. tariffs.

Industrials stocks .SXNP, which had been the worst-hit by fears of an

international trade war, were the biggest boost to the index as the worst-

case scenario was averted by Trump accepting exemptions to the steel

and aluminium tariff.

Airbus (AIR.PA) gained 1.3 percent, while BAE Systems (BAES.L) rose 2.2

percent, helped by the finalization of talks between Britain and Saudi

Arabia on a multi-billion-pound order for 48 Typhoon aircraft made by the

defence contractor.

Oil stocks .SXEP also rose as crude prices gained on signs of a detente

between the U.S. and North Korea

Oil services stocks were the best-performing. TechnipFMC (FTI.PA) rose 4.4

percent to the top of the CAC 40, while Wood Group (WG.L) rose 3.8

percent.

A number of corporate updates were badly received by investors,

however.

Shares in Lagardere (LAGA.PA), the French media group behind Paris

Match and Europe 1 radio, suffered the biggest decline on the Stoxx,

down 7.3 percent after disappointing annual results.

French energy services and electrical engineering company Spie

(SPIE.PA) lost 5.5 percent after its margin outlook for 2018 disappointed

investors.

Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) shares fell 5.7 percent after the airline reported

February passenger data. The stock had its worst day in four weeks after

the passenger yield came in lower than expected.

Germany's DAX .GDAXI was a laggard, down 0.1 percent after the

country's industrial output fell unexpectedly for the second month in a

row.


Nikkei rises to 1-1/2-week high; suspected scandal caps earlier gains Monday 12th March, 2018 – Reuters

Japan’s Nikkei share average rose to a 1-1/2-week high on Monday

helped by tech shares, but early gains were trimmed as a suspected

cronyism scandal dampened sentiment.

The Nikkei ended 1.7 percent higher at 21,824.03 points, the highest

closing level since Feb. 28, but lower than an intraday high of 21,971.16.

References to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, his wife and Finance

Minister Taro Aso were removed from documents related to a

controversial land sale, according to the documents seen by Reuters.

Questions over the sale of state-owned land at a huge discount to a

school operator with ties to Abe’s wife, Akie, have dogged Abe since the

matter became public last year.

“If this news did not sour the mood, the Nikkei could have tried 22,000,”

said Yutaka Miura, a senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities.

The overall market was strong after February’s U.S. jobs report eased fears

of inflation and aggressive interest rate hikes.

Chip-related technology stocks advanced following gains on Friday on

the Nasdaq, with Tokyo Electron up 3.1 percent, Sumco advancing 2.5

percent and Shin-Etsu Chemical adding 2.3 percent.

Nikon Corp rose 1.5 percent and Canon Inc gained 2.0 percent.

Exporters were also supported after the dollar made large gains against

the yen following Friday’s U.S. employment report.

Panasonic Corp climbed 2.7 percent and Nissan Motor Co rose 1.7

percent.

The broader Topix rose 1.5 percent at 1,741.30.


Sterling rises on struggling greenback, flat vs euro Monday 12th March, 2018 – Reuters

Sterling rose on Monday, extending its rise from last week as a revival in risk

appetite prompted investors to load up on the British currency though

concerns over Brexit progress at an EU summit later this month capped

gains.

Strong U.S. job growth data on Friday was counterbalanced by slower

increases in wages, resulting in money market traders sticking to bets that

the Fed would raise interest rates three times this year, encouraging

investors to add bets against the struggling greenback.

The British currency rose 0.2 percent to $1.3870 against the dollar, broadly

in line with other currencies but is still some way below a post-Brexit

referendum vote high of $1.4346 in late January.

But against the euro, sterling was flat at 88.84 pence as traders were

worried that Britain and EU officials would fall short of securing a transition

arrangement at a March 22-23 summit as differences have grown in

recent days.

“We expect euro/sterling to be very volatile in the run up to the summit

due to the conflicting headlines we have seen in recent weeks and as

such we remain cautious on the British currency’s outlook,” said Morten

Helt, a currency strategist at Danske Bank.

Latest positioning data also indicated an undercurrent of nervousness

about the British currency with net long sterling positions slashed to their

lowest since early December.

Finance minister Philip Hammond looks set to announce Britain’s smallest

budget deficit since 2002 this week but he is still likely to resist calls to

loosen his grip on public spending for now.


Hong Kong’s Red-Hot Housing Market Shows No Signs of Cooling Monday 12th March, 2018 – Bloomberg

Demand in Hong Kong’s red-hot housing market shows no signs of

abating, with Wheelock & Co. selling all 750 apartments offered at its new

Kowloon project over the weekend.

Based on buyers’ enthusiasm for the project, where 9,800 applications

were made for the 750 units, Wheelock is likely to announce the launch of

a further 300 to 400 apartments on Tuesday, said Ken Lee, senior principal

regional sales director at Centaline Property Agency Ltd. Wheelock

realized about HK$8.1 billion ($1.03 billion) in sales, he said.

Prices for the next batch of units may rise 5 percent to 8 percent, to as

much as HK$15,500 per square foot, Lee said. Wheelock Chairman

Douglas Woo said during a press conference Monday that the firm will

release 160 additional flats for sale this week, after “favourable response

from customers.”

Wheelock last week agreed to buy a plot of land near the former Kai Tak

airport from embattled conglomerate HNA Group Co. for HK$6.36 billion.

The chairman said Monday that the firm is interested in bidding for the

final site from HNA if it’s priced at market rate.

Secondary house prices in Hong Kong, the world’s least affordable city,

have climbed 4 percent this year, according to Centaline, and have

surged more than 300 percent since their 2003 trough.

The units at Wheelock’s Malibu development in Lohas Park are part of a

mass residential development built on land bought from MTR Corp.

located about 30 minutes to the city’s financial district.

Wheelock shares rose 0.9 percent to HK$59.85 in Hong Kong and have

gained 3.8 percent in the past three trading days.


China Banking Crisis Warning Signal Still Flashing, BIS Says Monday 12th March, 2018 – Bloomberg

China, Canada and Hong Kong are among the economies most at risk of

a banking crisis, according to early-warning indicators compiled by the

Bank for International Settlements.

Canada -- whose economy grew last year at the fastest pace since 2011 -

- was flagged thanks to its households’ maxed-out credit cards and high

debt levels in the wider economy. Household borrowing is also seen as a

risk factor for China and Hong Kong, according to the study.

“The indicators currently point to the build-up of risks in several

economies,” analysts Inaki Aldasoro, Claudio Borio and Mathias

Drehmann wrote in the BIS’s latest Quarterly Review published on Sunday.

The study offered some surprising results: for example, Italy wasn’t shown

as being at risk, despite its struggles with a slow-growing economy and

banks that are mired in bad debts.

While China was flagged, a key warning indicator known as the credit-to-

gross domestic product “gap” showed an improvement, said the BIS,

known as the central bank for central banks. This may suggest the

government is making progress in its push to reduce financial-sector risk.

The gap is the difference between the credit-to-GDP ratio and its long-

term trend. A blow-out in the number can signal that credit growth is

excessive and a financial bust may be looming. In China, the gap fell to

16.7 percent in the third quarter of 2017, down from a peak of 28.9

percent in March 2016 and the lowest since 2012, the study showed.

The narrowing gap in China “suggests the efficiency of financial

intermediation is improving," said Ding Shuang, chief economist for

Greater China and North Asia at Standard Chartered Plc in Hong Kong.

“This helps to slow the pace of the rise of the debt-to-GDP ratio, creating

conditions for an eventual deleveraging of the economy.”

China is getting serious about dangers in its financial system. While

derisking has been the government’s mantra since 2015, the country’s

most powerful politicians have been ramping up directives on everything

from shadow banking to stock-market speculation. Since April last year,

financial regulators have targeted curbing the growth of wealth

management products and interbank borrowings, with a more recent

focus on reining in household debt.

The Basel, Switzerland-based BIS routinely collects and analyses data to

monitor vulnerabilities in the global financial system. These figures typically

include the amount of credit in an economy and house prices, as well as

borrowers’ ability to service their debts.

For this study, the analysts assessed household borrowings and cross-

border or foreign-currency liabilities as potential sources of vulnerability by

back-testing them against earlier crises. They then scored the indicators

by the amount they currently deviate from long-term trends.


Doubts arise over City Hall $3B debt Monday 12th March, 2018 – Guyana Chronicle

A COUNCILLOR is alleging that the Georgetown City Council has a debt

in excess of $3B, partially due to contracts signed off by embattled Town

Clerk Royston King without the support of the full council, but Chairman of

the City’s Finance Committee Oscar Clarke said the allegations are

baseless.

On Thursday, Clarke told the Guyana Chronicle that the Council has a

debt of less than $2B, the greater part of which is owed to the Guyana

Power and Light (GPL); but records provided by an A Partnership for

National Unity + Alliance For Chance (APNU+AFC) Councillor, who is a

long-standing member of the People’s National Congress/Reform

(PNC/R), who requested anonymity, revealed that the Georgetown

Mayor and City Council at the end of December 31, 2017, had a liability

of $2.957B.

For critical services provided by GPL, Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI)

and Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT), City Hall owes in

excess of $2.064B. Additionally, as of December 31, 2017, City Hall had an

outstanding sum of $28.4M for Refuse Disposal Contractors; $302.5M

outstanding for wage and salary deductions; $449.5M for contractors who

executed drainage works; $240,000 for rental of vehicle and equipment

and $112.062M for other miscellaneous creditors.

It was noted on the documents that “agencies such as GPL, GTT

statements reflect as November, 2017.”

Notably, a number of contractors who were hired to weed, clean and

desilt various sections of the city were owed a collective sum of $449.5M.

It is the strong belief of the APNU Councillor that all of the contracts were

handed out by King without following the correct procedure.

The councillor, in explaining the established procedure, said the City

Engineer must first indicate that there is need for a particular project to be

executed. That engineer is expected to formulate a contract document

detailing the works to be done with appropriate estimates.

“That allows persons to bid, there must be a bidding process…When that

bidding process is completed, and that document goes to the City Works

Committee, the City Works Committee deliberates on the works and

approve, then it then goes to full council,” the councillor explained.

Once approved by the full council, the Finance Committee is instructed

to issue the required payment based on the availability of finance.

According to the councillor, that procedure was not followed. The

councillor is alleging that the City Works Committee has not scrutinised

any proposed work in a very long time.

“The only thing I know was done, was that Mr King sat in his office, the

contractor goes to him, and they sign off the contract, and the contractor

gone his way with the contract,” the APNU councillor alleged.

According to him, he is unaware whether the engineer proposed all or

some of the works, or the magnitude of his involvement in the entire

process.

“All we know is that these things appear and we are told that we are so

much billion dollars in debt, and we recognise that it is as a result of

contracts, and when we saw the contracts we know none came to the

City Works Committee,” the councillor said.

Asked why the City Works Committee did not raise an alarm after seeing

works being executed in the city without its knowledge, the councillor said

that committee members had requested from the clerk a list of all the

contractors and contracts, including the scope of work, but to date the

documents are still to be provided.

“On more than one occasion we asked for these things, and they never

come to us,” he lamented.

SILENT

According to the councillor, the Finance Committee has been silent on

these matters. “To the best of my knowledge, the Finance Committee has

not brought any allegation to the Council to say these are works going on

and we don’t know anything about these works,” he posited.

The APNU councillor pointed out that the late Councillor Junior Garrett,

who also sat on the Finance Committee, had raised similar concerns

shortly before his passing.

Excerpts from a report of the City Engineers’ Department for the month of

December, 2017, revealed that Garrett had expressed some concerns.

“Councillor Junior Garrett said he saw proposed capital works for the

month of January, 2018 and asked whether the works were agreed upon

by the City Works Committee, and what was the cost of the works,” a

section read. Garrett had also questioned who authorised the demolition

of a fence at the cemetery which was constructed through forms of

donation. It was the view of Garrett that City Hall had more important

projects to address.

In response, the town clerk said that the works that were being done at

the cemetery were

not capital works, but rather maintenance works and such did not require

the attention of the City Works Committee.

The Guyana Chronicle, however, was told that any project or work

costing $250,000 or more is required to be placed before the City Works

Committee and subsequently the full council.

But chairman of the Finance Committee, Oscar Clarke, who is also an

APNU coalition councillor sitting on the council, is maintaining that the

council only has a debt of less than $2B. According to him, approximately

$1.2B of the total sum is owed to the GPL, and a payment plan has been

agreed.

Clarke said any decision that is made by the Finance Committee or any

other committee has to be ratified by the full council. According to him,

all payments issued by the committee, is in keeping with approvals

granted by the full council. Clarke also denied having any knowledge of

King’s alleged bypassing of established procedures to hand out contracts

to his friends and associates.

While denying that the Council has a debt of more than $3B, Clarke said

what is known, is that more than $4B is owed to City Hall for rates and

taxes by businesses. These allegations are surfacing at a time when King is

faced with a no-confidence motion brought against him by Alliance For

Change (AFC) Councillor Sherod Duncan over misconduct.


Call to action on business, health, education, ICT Monday 12th March, 2018 – Guyana Chronicle

As the International Decade of People of African Descent (IDPAD) Summit

2018 came to an end Sunday, the body identified its plans for the future

through a presentation of the strategies discussed during several

roundtable sessions.

The final presentation took place at the Marriott Hotel on 11th March,

when the experts who moderated the roundtable discussions reviewed

the issues and solutions addressed in their groups.

The topics reported on were: Business and Finance; Health and Wellness;

Education and Culture; Human Rights and Geopolitics and Information

and Communication Technology (ICT).

Reporting on matters discussed in the Business and Finance work group,

President of the Libra Management Group (LMG) in the U.S., Stacey

Mollison, said that it is disappointing to see that the African community is

not improving economically as rapidly as it should.

Exclusion from opportunities, limited access to capital, poor financial

literacy and limited entrepreneurship development were only a few of the

challenges she listed as factors still affecting the business and financial

growth of Africans.

“We need to be able to move to the next step and we have to take

responsibility for where we are and really start to passionately do

something about it and stop waiting for somebody else to lead us out of

that state,” Mollison encouraged.

Speaking directly to the anxiety surrounding Guyana’s imminent oil-and-

gas industry, Mollison was careful to point out that Guyana is in need of

support, now more than ever, as many African countries have not fared

well in the industry.

“We don’t have a lot of positive models about what happens to the

people of African descent in those communities, so Guyana is a place

where we need to focus on how we change that negative narrative

around oil coming in to our community and [Africans] not really being the

beneficiaries of that,” she said, adding:

“This is an opportunity for us to rally around a country that, economically it

hasn’t happened yet, there’s a lot of hope around the oil-and-gas

industry, [but] we need resources, support, expertise, information, legal

experts, we need people around the diaspora to start pouring into this

country to help us to make better decisions.”

Mollison said, too, that financial literacy is an important aspect to

economic growth that remains inadequate in the black community and

went on to suggest that Africans create a funding cooperative through

engagement with the diaspora.

“Engage people in the diaspora to [contribute] to a wealth-building fund,

where we actually get people in the diaspora to pay into a fund that we

can then leverage in our respected communities or across the world; and

I think Guyana is a good place to start as a model,” she said.

In addition, Mollison highlighted the need for more efforts to be made

towards access to capital; entrepreneurship training and development;

financial literacy and a reversal of the large un-banked African

population.

Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of RyOne Incorporated, Ryan

Stewart-Federick, listed limited access to infrastructure, poor ICT

curriculums in schools and inadequate public support, as some of the

factors that continue to hinder the progression of ICT in black

communities.

Despite these challenges, the group’s moderator said that African

communities have seen significant advancements and are capable of

accomplishing even more, providing they receive the right amount of

community support, community involvement, and government

participation for the formulation of sustainable strategies.

Using Guyana as an example, Civil Rights Attorney-at-Law, Marcia

Johnson-Blanco who moderated the Human Rights and Geopolitics

working group, recommended that there be more awareness of human

rights commissions functioning locally in each respective member state.

This, she said, would enable locals to engage their local organisations

about the issues that affect them before the matters are presented the

United Nations level for additional assistance.

Some other topics her group discussed were: the mapping of Human

Rights resources; using conferences and summits to build networks; utilising

UN International Days for conversations on human rights and better

documentation of human rights violations in order to properly address

them.

The Education and Culture group, in their discussions, addressed the

effects of the formal education system on the black community,

highlighting the need for countries to push politically for curriculum

development that is “African-centred” through African education history.

It was emphasised, too, that before implementation, both African and

non-African teachers need to be trained to be “culturally sensitive” about

the materials they will transfer to children.

Other plans of action highlighted were: the rebuilding of African

communities and cultures through African leadership; financial mentoring

programmes; a registry for black business and programmes to teach

respect for African women and girls.

Finally, redefining health from an African perspective, the Health and

Wellness working group headed by Dr Ifetayo Adelaide, has decided to

publish all of the principles and guidelines formulated at the summit;

establish a Regional Herbal Registry and establish a taskforce to ensure

the completion of these goals.


Revenue Unit's Life Extended Following $120-$150m Score Friday 9th March, 2018 – Tribune 242

THE Government has extended the life of its Revenue Enhancement Unit

by one year, following a "very successful" 2017 first half when it collected

between $120-$150 million.

K P Turnquest, the Deputy Prime Minister, told Tribune Business yesterday

that the Minnis administration will assess whether the Unit can deliver

further "added value or has reached a plateau" by end-2018.

"It's been very successful," Mr Turnquest said of the Unit's achievements

during the first six months of the 2017 calendar year. "We've agreed to

extend it for another year, and at that time we'll conduct an assessment

whether it will be of added value or has reached a plateau."

He added that the increased focus the Unit has brought to revenue

enforcement, coupled with the use of "different collection tools" and risk

assessments conducted on taxpayers, had helped to drive its success.

The Revenue Enhancement Unit was created by the former Christie

administration in the wake of Hurricane Matthew in late 2016, when it was

desperate to collect every outstanding cent of revenue available to it

given the Treasury's strained financial position.

The Unit focused on VAT, Business License, Customs duty and real property

taxes, targeting higher-risk taxpaying firms and those who had significant

discrepancies between payments of different tax types.

Mr Turnquest made some mild criticisms of how the Unit was structured by

the former government in his mid-year Budget address, pointing out that it

cost more than $1 million per month to run, meaning that monies it was

collecting were going straight back out to pay its costs.

Suggesting that it was set up without Cabinet approval, with the expense

largely stemming from the hiring of foreign consultants, he added: "The

initiative itself makes sense - and it is something the Government is

continuing much more economically - but it made no sense to create a

revenue enhancement project where a significant quantum of the

savings went right back to the cost; costs again for which no Cabinet

approval was given, and for which most of the costs went to foreign

consultants."

With real property tax collections at the mid-year point of the Budget year

amounting to $31.8 million, or just 22.2 per cent of forecast, Mr Turnquest

said the Government was placing its hopes in "modernisation" to improve

revenue yields in that area.

"We'll continue to ramp up our enforcement exercise," he told Tribune

Business. "The whole area is being modernised, so we hope to start seeing

some improvements very shortly; IT solutions and bringing in staff to help

with the assessment process."

As for the $150 million in identified, unpaid bills left from the Christie

administration's $200 million-plus 'overhang', Mr Turnquest said the

Government intended to settle "the ones we can justify and can be

resolved" before the 2017-2018 fiscal year closes.

"To the extent there are commitments that extend over a couple of years,

they will continue to be dealt with in years to come," he added. "This all

affects cash flow and our ability to implement the programmes we wish to

put forward. We continue to work our way through them. It's not unusual

for governments coming in.

"This thing continues to evolve as people discover they're unpaid or they

have a commitment that's being unfulfilled. They will raise them, and we'll

have to deal with them. People could have bills in their desks."

Mr Turnquest said the Government's proposed debt management

framework will help to centralise the liabilities and guarantees issued by all

government agencies, enabling it to get a better grip on its debts.

"The financial management reforms will help us to have better reporting

from the government agencies and departments," he told Tribune

Business.


Bahamas finance minister responds to EU tax haven blacklist fears Sunday 11th March, 2018 – Caribbean News Now

In a media statement addressing the possibility of The Bahamas being

placed on a European Union tax haven blacklist, minister for finance,

Peter Turnquest, discussed the position with the EU and the work already

done to avoid the blacklisting.

Turnquest said: “The Bahamas is disappointed to have learned that the EU

Code of Conduct Group (COCG) will be making a recommendation to

the Council of the European Union next week to include The Bahamas on

the EU List of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes. Throughout this

process, The Bahamas has consistently been engaged with the OECD and

the COCG on the EU listing criteria – including as late as last week.

Therefore, this latest move is particularly surprising to us.”

Late last month, the Bahamian parliament passed three financial

transactions and reporting bills: The Credit Report Bill; the Proceeds of

Financial Crimes Bill; and the Financial Transactions Reporting Bill.

Turnquest also added: “The Bahamas has taken immediate steps to

reiterate its commitment to the European Commission with respect to the

non-facilitation of offshore structures and arrangements in the jurisdiction

aimed at attracting profits without real economic substance for the

purpose of profit shifting.”

Following European parliamentary debates and vote, a panel of EU tax

experts is about to undertake work on the TAX 3 initiative and the PANA

enquiries, which dealt more with tax avoidance primarily and, in

particular, financial crimes, as the EU panel warrants.

The TAXE 3 Terms of Reference made several points clear:

“(a) to build on and complete the work carried out by the TAXE 1 and

TAXE 2 special committees in particular to focus on effective

implementation and impact of recommendations highlighted in its

abovementioned resolutions of 25 November 2015 and 6 July 2016 by

Member States, Commission and/or the Council;

“(b) to build on and complete the work carried out by the PANA inquiry

committee in particular to focus on effective implementation and impact

of recommendations highlighted in its abovementioned recommendation

of 13 December 2017 by Member States, Commission and/or the Council;

“(c) to follow up on the progress in removal by the Member States of tax

practices allowing for tax avoidance and/or tax evasion that are harmful

for proper functioning of the Single market as included in its

abovementioned resolutions of 25 November 2015, 6 July 2016 and 13

December 2017; (and)

“(d) to assess how EU VAT rules were circumvented in the framework of

the Paradise Papers and to evaluate more in general the impact of VAT

fraud and administrative cooperation rules in the EU, while strongly

respecting ongoing work in the ECON committee; to analyse the

exchange of information and coordination policies between the Member

States and Eurofisc…”

The PANA Committee (The Committee of Inquiry into Money Laundering,

Tax Evasion and Tax Avoidance), which work came to an end in

December 2017 released its final report, which has been a source of

guidance on the EU parliament’s push for tax-evasion and tax-avoidance

initiatives undertaken by highlighted countries on the EU’s grey and

blacklist.

In light of these recent developments, Turnquest reaffirmed the Bahamian

government’s commitment to cooperation with the EU and said:

“Discussions were held today with the secretary general of the COCG

responding to their specific concerns, followed by formal letter. We

believe the discussions were positive and remain hopeful that our efforts

to address their concerns will result in the favourable consideration of The

Bahamas as a cooperative tax jurisdiction.

“We will continue to demonstrate our commitment to international

regulatory standards and initiatives thereby ensuring that The Bahamas

remains a clean, compliant and cooperative jurisdiction.”


Panama construction on the upswing Friday 9th March, 2018 – Newsroom Panama

“The District of Panama led the way in new construction, additions and

repairs in the first month of 2018. Figures from the Comptroller General

show an increase of 22% over Jan. 2917.

The value of new construction in Panama, was $53 million. It was followed

by Colón, Arraiján, Santiago and La Chorrera, with $28 million, $17 million,

$6 million and $5 million, respectively.

The highest value was registered in residential projects, with a total of $60

million, 87% more than in the same month last year.

Non-residential construction registered a drop of 11%, falling from $63

million to $53 million.


20 countries affecting Panama interests listed Friday 9th March, 2018 – Caribbean News Now

Panama has joined the US in complaining about tariffs in other countries

and has issued a list that includes 20 jurisdictions in Latin America, Europe,

and Asia that apply discriminatory or restrictive measures to the Republic

affecting economic and commercial interests.

The list is the first step in the evaluation of reciprocal actions towards the

countries that discriminate against Panama, as established by Law 48 of

October 26, 2016, which governs the process to apply retaliatory

measures, says the Ministry of Foreign Relations

The countries listed are: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Peru,

Uruguay, Venezuela, Croatia, Slovenia, Estonia, France, Greece,

Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Cameroon, Georgia, Russia and Serbia,

jurisdictions that keep Panama included on different discriminatory lists.

According to the law diplomatic steps must first be taken and then

proposed actions against states affecting the interests of Panama

approved


Towards increased production of the banana sector Saturday 10th March, 2018 – ICI Haiti

Thursday, a delegation led by Eugene Branly the Director General of the

Ministry of Agriculture, composed of officials of the Directorate of

Agricultural Infrastructure (DIA) and other officials of the Ministry met in

Arcahaie, members of the Association Irrigants of the Arcahaie Plain

(AIPA), who has been working for over 20 years in water management in

this area and currently has 450 active members.

The objective of this meeting was to identify the main needs of this

commune with a view to increasing agricultural production, in particular

the banana sector, and finding appropriate solutions to certain diseases,

including the "Black Sigatoka", which eat up banana production in this

region.

Eugene Branly said that the Ministry intends to increase its actions in this

part of the country by supporting the banana farmers and associations of

Arcahaie.

The delegation took the opportunity to visit several irrigated perimeters.


‘Action’ if Clico lands sold Monday 12th March, 2018 – Nation News

Freundel Stuart administration that action will be taken if thousands of

acres of land owned by CLICO, lots of it in St John, are sold between now

and general elections.

“We need answers on what is being done with the lands,” she said while

speaking at the official opening of the St John constituency office of BLP

candidate Charles Griffith, at Clifton Hall, on Saturday night.

“I pray that the lands would not be sold under the shadow of a Parliament

that has been closed down between now and election day. If it is, mark

my word, action would be taken to cover the assets of the people of

Barbados. The people of Barbados cannot guarantee bonds, and not get

the assets under which those bonds are related.”

Mottley complained that even though the commitment of the St John

people to the Democratic Labour Party could not be questioned, they

had not benefited from any infrastructural development. She lamented

that she had never seen the roads in St John as bad as they were today.

“Hold tight. You have suffered enough under Mara Thompson, the

parliamentary representative of the constituency, and the neglect of

Stuart during the water outages,” she said.

Griffith also promised that change was at hand, adding that St John was

virgin land for development.

He promised that on being elected, development would begin with the

youth benefiting from use of the many acres of idle land in the parish.


Barbados No. 1 with travellers Friday 9th March, 2018 – Nation news

Seventy thousand travellers across the world have chosen Barbados as

their place to visit in the 2017 Destination Satisfaction Index (DSI)

Barbados copped the top spot, beating destinations such as the

Seychelles (second) and Bermuda (third).

The travellers were interviewed and gave their feedback on 20 categories

including beaches, accommodation, cuisine and shopping.

Barbados had the highest overall world score, 8.8 out of 10, of the 144

countries included. The island also ranked highest in the accommodation

category and highest in the Americas region, ahead of Bermuda and The

Bahamas.

The awards were presented to the Barbados delegation, led by Donna

Cadogan, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Tourism and International

Transport, during a ceremony at ITB Berlin, the world’s leading travel trade

show held in Germany’s capital city.

Chief executive officer of the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc., William

“Billy” Griffith, plans to leverage the accolade in the destination’s

marketing communications over the next year.


2017 a solid year for Fortress Friday 9th March, 2018 – Caribbean News Now

“The last quarter of 2017 was another strong one for the Fortress Funds and

capped a year of solid performance,” Cave told investors at the eighth

annual Fortress Investment Forum on Thursday at the Courtney Blackman

Grand Salle.

He cautioned that while prospects were “still good”, a repeat of last

year’s gains was unlikely.

“Our equity investments performed especially well as the bull market

continued in Jamaica and most global markets responded to improving

economic growth and rising corporate profits.”

Chief investment officer at Fortress Advisory & Investment Services, Peter

Arender, however, said 2018 had so far been flat, with a strong January

and volatile February.

He told investors this type of variance was not unusual and was the reason

why the most reliable returns were made over the medium to long term.

Arender said emerging markets were strong in 2017 and led again in 2018,

with the Fortress Emerging Market Fund up six per cent to date.

“We believe they are still the best value among all global investments,” he

said.

The Fortress Caribbean Growth Fund gained 3.1 per cent during the fourth

quarter of 2017 and was up 14 per cent in 2017.

While announcing a new addition, the Fortress Fixed Income Fund, Cave

said the investment environment was more currency controlled.


Governments to settle UWI debt by end of April Saturday 10th March, 2018 – Barbados Today

The US$275 million debt owed to the University of the West Indies (UWI) by

Barbados and other Caribbean Governments will be settled by the end of

April.

The announcement was made this afternoon by UWI Vice Chancellor

Professor Sir Hilary Beckles who told reporters following a Campus Council

Meeting that St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr Timothy Harris was

mandated at last month’s 29th Inter-Sessional CARICOM summit in Haiti to

meet with the respective political leaders to get them to honour their

outstanding debts to the regional institution.

Sir Hilary said the decision came after the university made a presentation

to all the prime ministers during the February 26 and 27 conference.

“The Governments resolved and agreed that the heads . . . will resolve this

matter in the next two months . . . that prime minister Harris of St Kitts and

Nevis has been mandated by the Heads of Government to carry out

shuttle diplomacy to move from country to country as prime minister,

meet with all the prime ministers and to work through a win-win strategy

where those resources can be made available to the university for its

transformation for the 21st century,” he said.

The Vice Chancellor also said that in seeking to reach a settlement,

consideration would be given to the “very narrow space” available to

each country.

“And as a result of that, the strategies we are looking at are assets for

cash. We are looking at strategies whereby the debt can be sold to

financial institutions that have a willingness [to buy] and many financial

institutions have expressed a willingness to buy this debt from the

government under win-win circumstances,” he said, adding that things

were looking up from that point of view.

Sir Hilary noted that despite a 40 per cent loss in students in three years, a

30 per cent cut in budget and a debt which is larger than its operating

budget, the Cave Hill Campus neither despaired nor gave up hope

though its viability was at stake.

He praised Principal Eudine Barriteau for her inspiring resilience,

innovativeness and a spirit of triumph over the last two years that

disproved the notion that Cave Hill Campus was a burden to the

Barbados Government.

Earlier in a 27-page report to the council meeting, the principal outlined a

series of achievements last year which included the expansion of the

provision of medical education by targeting markets in the United States

and Ghana.

“In July 2017, a campus delegation visited the University of Miami where

we signed an MOU and held very fruitful talks with President Julio Frenk,

and other senior officials,” she said.

Professor Barriteau also reported that a three-person campus contingent

took part in a successful Republic Bank trade mission to Ghana where

they discussed establishing a transnational, medical programme with

Ghanaian government ministers, the vice chancellor and senior

colleagues of the University of Ghana.

“I am very happy to report that just last week, we gladly approved a

request by the Vice Chancellor Owusu and his articulation team to visit

Cave Hill in early July to view our medical facilities and renew our MOU

which Vice Chancellor Beckles will sign on behalf of the UWI,” she

revealed.

She said Cave Hill also built academic relations with Japanese universities,

expanded the programmes of the Confucius Institute and the Faculty of

Humanities and Education and worked with the Confucius Institute to

develop and introduce a minor in Chinese studies by the beginning of

academic year 2018/2019.


Gov't contemplates roll back on asset tax Sunday 11th March, 2018 – Jamaica Observer

A day after highlighting that there were no new taxes in the 2018/19

budget, Minister of Finance Audley Shaw has announced that the

Government is again contemplating rolling back tax on assets.

Last August, Shaw said that the Government is prepared to reduce asset

tax for financial institutions if they committed to lowering interest rates. He

emphasised that the banks must be innovative when designing loan

products for the productive sector, noting that interest rates on loans for

business are still too high even though there has been some reduction.

Ultimately, the finance minister wants the banks to bring interest rates to

single digits. Shaw also hopes to further streamline Customs Agency of

Jamaica processes, an area where he says can rake in up to 40 per cent

more revenues for the Government with the clamp down of illicit

importations.

“As minister I have a policy of phasing things in, and then we can also

phase things out. So, it goes two ways. But everything has to be a process;

it's really one step at a time. For instance, we are looking at the issue of

the asset taxes with a view not just to chop it off but to reduce the rate,”

Shaw said.

He was speaking at the International Monetary Fund press conference on

the third review of Jamaica under the Stand-By Agreement last Friday.

The IMF, while describing parts of the programme as a “turning point for

Jamaica”, chastised Jamaica's growth averaging of 0.9 per cent since

the reforms began in 2013; along with structural obstacles including crime,

bureaucratic processes, insufficient labour force skills, and poor access to

finance.

“But it's one step at a time. Except to say if we can plug that hole of illicits

that robs the country then we can reach a point where we can actually

lower the rate.

“Where we have arrived is not accidental, a considerable amount of

emphasis was placed on fiscal consolidation and responsibility and at the

same time we have been stressing compliance as an area that needs

work. That's what I will focus on this fiscal year, compliance among the

major tax lines and the TAJ as well as customs,” the Minister continued.

He said the Government is seeking to have 100 per cent scanning of all

containers coming into the country to cut down on corruption and the

illegal importation of products including cigarette.

COMPLIANCE EMPHASIS

“The emphasis on the new fiscal year is not on putting on additional taxes;

the emphasis is that we are going to emphasis compliance, not just for

revenues but for the nation's security.

“If we can plug that hole of illicit imports that robs the treasury, that robs

the customs, then we can reach to a point where can actually lower the

rate of customs duties. If everybody complies, and everybody pays then

we can have low rates and that is an objective that I have,” he said.

Assessments conducted by the Bank of Jamaica on the country's 2018/19

inflation outlook, reflected inflation remaining the medium-term target of 4

to 6 per cent. Concurrently, appreciation in the exchange rate resulted in

BOJ reducing policy interest rate to 3.25 per cent from 3.50 per cent.

BOJ further reduced policy rates to 2.75 per cent last February with the

hope that the banks would pass on savings to customers.

Still, Governor Brian Wynter said then that while rates have been lowering

in the banking system, the time it takes to see rate reduction is too long.

He noted that competitive behaviour amongst the institutions must take

place for consumers to benefit.

Shaw, in opening the 2018-19 Budget Debate on Thursday announced

that the Government will focus on increasing competition among banks,

as opposed to regulating banking fees, in a time-bound action plan to

stop predatory charges and fees by financial institutions.

He reasoned that when the Government regulate one set of fees, the

banks simply increase another set of fees, ultimately resulting in the

Government “running behind them, trying to catch up with regulation.”

He added that the banks would simply change the name of the fee,

leaving the Government to come back to Parliament with more

regulation to regulate the new fee.


Shaw on his budget ... Read my lips, no new taxes Monday 11th March, 2018 – Jamaica Observer

In his Thursday afternoon budget speech, Finance Minister Audley Shaw,

in his characteristically ebullient fashion, showed his audience the pink

sheet with “No Revenue Measures” printed on the front, which for the past

14 years has instead typically contained details of extensive tax

packages.

Foreshadowing the IMF press conference the next day, he noted that at

the end of December 2017, the Government of Jamaica had successfully

met all the quantitative performance criteria and indicative targets

agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the current

Precautionary Stand-By Arrangement, and that the programme had now

advanced to the point where IMF support is essentially an insurance policy

as Jamaica has had no need to access IMF funds.

He added that the GOJ has also met all 14 structural benchmarks for

public sector transformation, public bodies and public service reform

under the IMF Stand-By Arrangement through end November 2017,

including a compensation review and employee census for central

government, new recruitment rules for the public sector, and a time-

bound plan to reintegrate eligible public bodies into central government.

The new budget will cover the last full year under the Stand-by agreement

with the IMF, and the government will continue to meet all commitments

and targets for reducing the debt-to-GDP ratio, modernising the public

sector, increasing the social safety net, and strengthening fiscal and

monetary buffers of our economy.

As evidence of rising confidence, he quoted the Jamaica Chamber of

Commerce Survey of Business and Consumer Confidence for the Fourth

Quarter of 2017, noting that Business Confidence hit a high of 142.6 points,

compared to 135.2 in the third quarter, and that the index of Business

Expectations for the future hit 135 points — “the highest level ever

recorded in the history of the surveys”.

A further sign of confidence was the reversal of the long trend of

increasing dollarization, as at the end of 2016, the percentage of deposits

held in US dollars was 46 per cent and this fell to 42.5 per cent by the end

of October 2017.

While observing that Jamaica saw its fifth consecutive year of growth in

Fiscal Year 2017/18, estimated at 0.9 per cent, Shaw noted the rate was

disappointing in the context of “record-breaking level of tourist arrivals; a

construction boom; historically high job creation; a fast-growing stock

market; positive business confidence; and the strongest economic buffers

in decades”.

He reported that the PIOJ's analysis found the miss in growth is due mainly

to the negative effects of unexpectedly high rainfall on agriculture and

delays in restarting the production of bauxite and alumina, without which

they estimate growth would have been between 2 per cent and 2.5 per

cent.

Tax revenues are estimated to overperform by a minimum of $5 billion

(Shaw thought it will end up being more), with, notably, PAYE also

performing well, with revenues for the fiscal year to January 2018 of $47.8

billion compared with budgeted amount of $46.5 billion, despite the

increase in the tax threshold for personal income taxes to $1.5 million.

LOWEST INTEREST RATES IN RECENT HISTORY

Government interest rates are at the lowest levels in recent history, with

the 180-day Treasury Bills at 3.6 per cent in February 2018, well below the

6.1 per cent recorded in February 2017.

In January 2018, we auctioned $23 billion in three-year Treasury Bills at an

average yield of just 5.3 per cent. The Central Bank's key signal rate was

cut four times during the past fiscal year from 3.75 per cent to the rate

today of 2.75 per cent. The $5 billion reopening of the benchmark

Investment Note due 2021 was almost five times oversubscribed with an

average yield of 5.4 per cent.

Loans grew 16 per cent in 2017 following an expansion of 14.1 per cent in

2016, a second year of strong growth.

Importantly, he noted, private sector credit to GDP in Jamaica at 26.4 per

cent in December 2017 was still way below the roughly 46 per cent for

other Latin America and Caribbean countries, approximately 95 per cent

for other middle-income countries globally, and well over 100 per cent in

the USA.

Not coincidentally, he argued, interest rates were still too high — with the

Bank of Jamaica estimating weighted average lending rates at 15 per

cent in the banking sector at the end of December 2017 — stating he will

not rest until rates to the real sector are in the low single digits.

DEBT FINANCING

Borrowing for fiscal year 2018/19 amounts to $103.2 billion ($78.1 billion is

domestic and $25.1 billion is external), representing a 48.4 per cent

reduction in total loan receipts when compared with fiscal year 2017/18.

The lower borrowing (year-over-year) requirement reflects the significantly

lower amortisation costs for fiscal year 2018/19 and the planned utilisation

of existing cash resources.

KEY MACRO ASSUMPTIONS

The main macroeconomic assumptions upon which the fiscal year

2018/19 Budget was cast are real GDP growth of 2.4 per cent, continued

low inflation and a competitive and flexible exchange rate. The passive

forecasts for Revenue and grants and the Expenditure requirements for

fiscal year 2018/19 generate a primary surplus of $141.1 billion, which will

ensure the 7.0 per cent of GDP target.

Revenue and Grants for fiscal year 2018/19 are passively forecast at

$590.6 billion, or 29.3 per cent of GDP, similar to the projected revenue

and grants outturn of GDP for fiscal year 2017/18.

The forecast for fiscal year 2018/19 represents a 6.8 per cent increase over

the projected outturn for fiscal year 2017/18.

Tax revenue is budgeted at $518.4 billion (25.7 per cent of GDP) and is

expected to account for 87.8 per cent of total revenue and grants,

compared with 88.8 per cent of the projected outturn for fiscal year

2017/18.

Non-tax revenue for fiscal year 2018/19 is projected to be $60.9 billion or

3.0 per cent of GDP. This represents a 14.0 per cent increase over the

Revised Estimates for fiscal year 2017/18, which amounted to 2.8 per cent

of GDP. These include receipts of $5.4 billion from the Customs

administration fees; transfers of $12.7 billion from the de-earmarked

entities: the CHASE Fund, the Tourism Enhancement Fund and Jamaica

Civil Aviation Authority; and a special distribution of US$101.0 million from

the PetroCaribe Development Fund.

Capital revenue is programmed to be $2.1 billion, a fall of 45.1 per cent

relative to the projected inflows for fiscal year 2017/18, which had higher

capital revenue associated with a one-time loan repayment by the

Airports Authority of Jamaica during the fiscal year.

Grants are projected to total $9.1 billion, an increase of 101 per cent,

including EU grant inflows of $3.6 billion ($1.4 billion is budgeted to support

the Justice Sector Reform Programme while $2.3 billion represents the

second tranche of EU “sugar” budget support receipts).

Self-financed public bodies are expected to generate an estimated $344

billion in revenues for fiscal year 2017/18, transfer a net $45 billion to the

Central Government in terms of financial distribution, taxes and other

programme support, while making capital expenditures of $52 billion

during fiscal year 2017/18.

Shaw emphasized the “absolute importance of reducing the high

proportion of our economy that operates in the informal sector. It forces

them to turn to lenders who charge exorbitant rates. It prevents them from

forging business alliances. They cannot enter into formal supply contracts

so they are excluded from the value chain with formal enterprises. They

cannot export legally. This is an important reason for our stagnant

productivity”.

He noted that during the period April to December 2017, a total of 15,106

new taxpayers were registered, some due to their compliance drive, and

that the Government also plan to implement scanners with advanced

technology in Customs at our various ports of entry to reduce revenue

leakage. At the IMF press briefing the next day, he noted that other

countries had experienced a 20 to 40 per cent increase in customs

revenue from similar measures.

The largest allocation in the fiscal year 2018/19 budget to a single ministry

was for the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, around $101.6

billion, up from $98.9 billion in fiscal year 2017/18.

National security and the rule of law is among the main strategic priorities

for fiscal year 2018/19, with an allocation to the Ministry of National

Security of $78.5 billion, up from $63.6 billion in fiscal year 2017/18, or an

increase of 23.4 per cent.

WAGE NEGOTIATIONS

He noted that the Government has restructured their original wage offer,

and entered into a four-year arrangement with several public sector

unions which would provide an increase of 5.0 per cent in year 1, 2.0 per

cent in year 2, 4.0 per cent in year 3, and 5.0 per cent in year 4 (not

including annual performance increments of 2.5 per cent which almost

every public sector employee gets) as part of the commitment to achieve

a 9.0 per cent wage-to-GDP ratio by the end of fiscal year 2018/19.

In addition, instead of requiring public sector workers to contribute 2.5 per

cent in year 1 and another 2.5 per cent in year 2 to get to the 5 per cent

pension contribution, Government has allowed a 1.0 per cent per year for

5 years to ease the burden of this contribution.

Shaw added that the increase in the threshold to $1.5 million resulted in

an average of 7.6 per cent more in net pay for the health care sector, an

average of 8.0 per cent more in net pay for the police, an average 10 per

cent more in net pay for the teachers, and an average of 14 per cent

more in net pay for monthly paid civil servants.


Cuba receives its one-millionth visitor despite US warnings Friday 9th March, 2018 – Caribbean News Now

The arrival on Thursday of its first one-millionth vacationer to Cuba reaffirms

the recognition of the island as a peaceful and safe destination despite

the travel warnings issued by the US State Department.

The result, achieved four days after the similar date of 2017, has been

possible amidst the reinforced campaign organized and directed by the

US government to stop the flow of US visitors to the Caribbean island, the

Ministry of Tourism reported on Thursday.

The US State Department announced a new travel warning against Cuba

last Monday for alleged sonic attacks against US diplomats at its embassy

in Havana.

However, months of research on both sides have not produced one single

piece of evidence of the alleged incident.

US citizens are prohibited from coming to Cuba as tourists. The tourism

ministry note pointed out that the main market are Canadians, followed

by France, Germany, Italy, Britain, Russia and Spain, in addition to Mexico

and Argentina.

The communiqué also highlighted that Cuba reached its first one-millionth

vacationer despite the severe damages inflicted by Hurricane Irma, in

September of 2017.

Tourism in Cuba has increased each year, reaching a record number of

some 4.7 million visitors in 2017.

Tourism is one of the main growing sectors of the Cuban economy.


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