• Derrimon Trading Limited has formed a partnership with Intcomex, a distributor of computer products, to operate an electronics store. The operation will be under the brand, Select Tech. 
• So far, the companies have invested $100 million in establishing and stocking a retail outlet on the mezzanine of a newly opened Select Grocers store in the Clarendon-based mall, but the investment is expected to nearly double by the end of the year as the partners expand the store's product offerings. Select Grocers is a supermarket business controlled by Derrimon.
• Select Tech now sells electronic items such as games, phones, computers, printers, television sets, network and cabling equipment, and other small appliances, but it wants to expand its offers to include vehicle radios, smart home fixtures and fittings, security cameras, and other items.
• Derrimon intends to present Select Grocers as a one-stop shop with the opening of the new Select Tech store, which will eventually resemble a miniature version of the American Best Buy chain.
• With this new move to expand its offerings, we expect to see some improvement in Derrimon’s performance over the coming quarters.

(Source:  RJR News)

• Tourism Minister, Hon Edmund Bartlett, has called on industry stakeholders to play a critical role in promoting a more sustainable tourism sector. He noted that travellers, industry workers and policymakers all have the power to make a difference.
• The Minister made the call in a speech delivered by the Chief Technical Director in the Ministry, David Dobson, at the Tourism Awareness Week (TAW) Thanksgiving church service held at the Montego Bay New Testament Church of God, St. James on Sunday (September 24).
• While the COVID-19 pandemic provided an unprecedented opportunity for Jamaica to reimagine tourism for the future, a more equitable, sustainable, and resilient model needs to be developed.
• He noted that the country is ahead of the curve, with a tourism growth strategy that is centred on strengthening linkages with other sectors of the economy, increasing benefits for residents and communities, promoting broader participation through training and certification, and ensuring the safety, security, and sustainability of the environment.
• Jamaica’s tourism sector has emerged as a key driver of the country’s post-pandemic economic recovery and maintains its dominance as the largest generator of foreign exchange, a major contributor to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and a significant source of employment. Jamaica welcomed 3.3 million visitors and generated US$3.7 billion in earnings in 2022, and the trend has continued into 2023, with 2.77 million visitors and US$2.93 billion in revenue between January and August.
• The country is on course to meet projections of 3.8 million visitors and foreign exchange earnings of US$4.1 billion by year-end which bodes well for the industry and by extension, the overall economy.

(Source:  JIS News)

• Concern is growing from residents and officials alike, that Dominica is facing a mounting energy crisis. The island nation’s ageing power plants, once the backbone of its electricity supply, are now grappling to keep pace with the surging demand for energy.
• This was disclosed at the press conference of Dominica Electricity Services Ltd (DOMLEC), with one of its top officials calling the situation to be “insufficient generation capacity.”
• “We have been seeing in 2023 increased consumption, what you call increased load, so our peak so far for the year is 17.62 megawatts,” DOMLEC Manager Bertilia McKenzie explained. She went on to highlight the contrast with 2021 when the peak was 16.38 megawatts, representing a significant increase of over 1 megawatt in customer consumption in 2023 compared to two years prior. In 2022, the peak was also high at 16.35 megawatts.
• McKenzie emphasized that not only are Dominicans consuming more power in 2023, but DOMLEC is also grappling with the challenge of ageing machinery.
• To promptly tackle the emergency, DOMLEC is leasing two megawatts of temporary generation from an outside source. McKenzie also stressed the need for additional generation, citing Dominica’s first geothermal plant that will be commissioned “in a few years.”
• The construction of the plant, which is expected to generate 10,000 kilowatts, is ongoing with transmission networks currently being set up as the next phase of the project.

(Source: Caribbean News Now)

• It's a now-familiar dance: Federal Reserve officials signal to the world that interest rates are not dropping anytime soon. Financial markets respond with bets to the contrary. That dynamic, which has played out repeatedly over the course of a U.S. central bank policy tightening regime that began 18 months ago, was back on full display last week.
• Forecasts published on Wednesday by the U.S. central bank showed that a majority of its policymakers see the Fed's benchmark overnight interest rate ending this year at 5.6%, which implies one more interest rate hike in the next three months. They also now anticipate an end-of-2024 policy rate of at least 5.1%, half a percentage point higher than they projected three months ago.
• Meanwhile, interest rate futures contracts continue to price in only about a 50% chance of further tightening in 2023, and see a 4.65% policy rate by the end of next year. Also, that disagreement over the policy trajectory, while not unusual, could complicate the Fed's efforts to smother inflation, if easier financial conditions spur spending or investment that rekindles price pressures.
• Inflation by the Fed's preferred measure, the personal consumption expenditures price index, peaked in the summer of 2022 at 7% and had fallen to 3.3% this past July. With non-housing services inflation still sticky, Fed officials project underlying inflation pressures will ease only slowly from here.
• Financial markets may be more optimistic about easing price pressures than the more guarded Fed policymakers. "We continue to expect a faster pace of fed funds rate cuts than what the Fed currently projects, as we're anticipating a faster pace of inflation reduction," said Preston Caldwell, chief U.S. economist at Morningstar, predicting core PCE inflation will drop to 1.9% by the end of next year. Fed policymakers see end-of-2024 core inflation at 2.6%.

(Source: Reuters)

• The Swiss National Bank (SNB) is done with interest rate hikes, according to the vast majority of economists polled by Reuters, despite mooting the prospect of further increases last week when it surprised markets by leaving borrowing costs unchanged.
• On Sept. 21 the SNB held its policy interest rate unchanged at 1.75%, noting inflation - at 1.6% in August and within the central bank's target range of 0 - 2% - had ebbed lower, but said further tightening could not be ruled out.
• An overwhelming 24 of 26 surveyed after Thursday's announcement predicted no more increases in the current cycle, leaving the SNB in step with the European Central Bank, which a separate Reuters poll suggested was also finished with hikes.
• "The SNB's decision to keep rates unchanged at 1.75% was a big surprise, although it left the door open for further hikes. We do not expect any further increases in the policy rate as we expect inflation to fall next year," said Adrian Prettejohn at Capital Economics.
• After last week's meeting, SNB Chairman Thomas Jordan kept the door ajar for further hikes, saying "There is still an existing inflationary pressure, and we do not exactly know whether this inflationary pressure will increase again."
• The first cut is not expected until the fourth quarter of next year, the median of a smaller sample of 17 economists showed. The SNB usually only makes policy decisions once every three months.

(Source: Reuters)

• Following the announcement more than 6 months ago, GraceKennedy has launched the share buyback plan where as much as one per cent of its shares over a period of one year will be bought back.
• The proportion amounts to about 9.9Mn units, which at current price are valued at around $700Mn.
• GraceKennedy, which has more than 990Mn outstanding shares said the transaction will be conducted on the open market through its stockbrokers in Jamaica as well as Trinidad & Tobago. The programme will be funded from its cash resources.
• Other companies that have recently embarked on share buybacks include JMMB Group Limited, Sygnus Investments Limited and First Rock Real Estates Investment.
• The rationale for this share buyback plan is centred on the fact that management believes that the company is trading below its economic value, and the share buyback will help unlock additional shareholder value.

(Source:  RJR News)

• One Great Studio Company Limited (1GS) successfully raised $338.63Mn in their Initial Public Offering (IPO) and is now listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange’s Junior Market. The company’s IPO opened on August 28, 2023, and closed on August 29, 2023, and saw a 61% oversubscription of its initial share offer. The new Junior Market Company attracted over 3,600 applications to the IPO.
• With the successful listing of 1GS on the JSE’s Junior Market on Tuesday, September 19, 2023, the Company’s shares are now available for trading on the secondary market and will trade under the symbol 1GS.
• The Listing of One Great Studio increases the total listed companies to 49 on the Junior Market and the total number of companies listed on the JSE to 101 or 149 securities. Including the $338.63 million raised by 1GS, the total capital raised by the companies listed on the Junior Market now amounts to $21.23 billion, fulfilling the objective of the Junior Market, which is to enable access to equity capital.
• Also with this listing, the market capitalization of the Junior Market increased from $187.34Bn to $189.03Bn as of September 18.

(Source:  JSE)

• Brazil hopes to attract some 180 billion reais ($36.6 billion) of private investments in new rail and highway projects over the next three years, its Transport Minister Renan Filho told Reuters on Thursday.
• The minister travelled to Lisbon to present plans for the projects to European operators and investors, as part of a roadshow that will continue in Germany, the United Arab Emirates, India and China, he said.
• Filho said in an interview that Brazil's government will also invest some 80 billion reais during President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's 2023-2026 term. But roughly 35 tenders should draw over twice that much investment from the private sector.
• Brazil aims to expand its freight-focused rail system to carry 40% of exports by 2035, up from 17% currently, he said.
• Brazil's Transnordestina railway, which has been under construction for over 15 years but is only half completed, could be key to that expansion, said the minister, part of a powerful political family in the northeastern state of Alagoas.
• The Transnordestina was designed to carry commodities like soy, corn, iron ore and gypsum from the state of Piaui north to the northern port of Pecem and east to the port of Suape.
• Filho said the first stretch of the 1,700 kilometres (1,056 mi) project, the Piaui-Pecem connection, would be finished by the beginning of 2027. Construction of the full Pecem-Suape route will begin this year and is expected to be completed within five years.
• Filho said the national railway plan, set to be presented next month, would include six new passenger routes, including from the capital Brasilia to the central state of Goias and from Sao Paulo to Parana. Brazil currently runs just two inter-state passenger railways.

(Source: Reuters)

• In an attempt to stabilize prices, the Dominican Republic has suspended banana exports. Joel Santos Echavarría, Minister of the Presidency and president of the National Council for Food and Nutritional Sovereignty and Security (Conassan), said that the measure will be reviewed in 30 days.
• The decision, taken through Resolution 05-2023, establishes that the measure has been in effect from Monday, September 18, and will be reviewed in 30 days.
• The Dominican Republic is currently a major producer of bananas, especially organic. Its production is oriented for both the national and international markets.
• Notably, according to Ministry of Agriculture data, in 2016 the Dominican Republic became the world's leading exporter of organic bananas, which means that 63% of the total (approximately 17,000 hectares) dedicated to this crop has been certified as being free of pesticides or any other type of chemical.
• Since then, the price of bananas has plummeted by almost 35% of the Dominican Republic’s export price. The increase in freight, fertilizers and supplies such as boxes are among the increased cost factors. The aggravating circumstance is that the destination markets refuse to assume these cost increases.
• Furthermore, the gap between the price of organic and conventional bananas is getting closer every day, to the detriment of DR exporters, thereby resulting in lower earnings for banana exporters in the country.

(Source: Dominican Today)

• The Bank of England halted its long run of interest rate increases on Thursday as the British economy slowed, but it said it was not taking a recent fall in inflation for granted. A day after a surprise slowing in Britain's fast pace of price growth, the BoE's Monetary Policy Committee voted by a narrow margin of 5-4 to keep the Bank Rate at 5.25%.
• It was the first time since December 2021 that the BoE did not increase borrowing costs. "There are increasing signs of some impact of tighter monetary policy on the labour market and on momentum in the real economy more generally," the MPC said in a statement. It cut its forecast for economic growth in the July-September period to just 0.1% from August's forecast of 0.4% and noted clear signs of weakness in the housing market.
• Growth for the rest of the year was likely to be weaker than previous forecasts, the BoE said. Record growth in workers' pay, which has been a big concern for the central bank, was not backed up by other measures of the labour market, it noted, suggesting the BoE's policymakers expected it to slow down soon.
• "CPI inflation is expected to fall significantly further in the near term, reflecting lower annual energy inflation, despite the renewed upward pressure from oil prices," the BoE said. However, it said services inflation was expected to remain elevated. The BoE's decision to pause its rate hikes came a day after the U.S. Federal Reserve also opted to keep borrowing costs on hold. Last week, the European Central Bank raised rates but suggested it might be the last for now.

(Source: Reuters)