• For the Three Months ended May 31, 2021, Portland JSX Limited reported a net profit of US$354,598 relative to the US$1.40Mn loss in the corresponding period of the prior year. 
• The major driver for this earnings result was the US$750,683 recorded for net fair value gains on financial investments relative to a loss of US$1.33Mn in the corresponding period of 2020. On the other hand, net interest income fell 65.2% while the company recorded FX losses of US$43,064 for the period. A 3.2% increase in interest expenses and a 63.1% increase in operating expenses also tempered the improvement in earnings. 
• Portland JSX Ltd.’s stock price has fallen to $7.03 per share, down 26.0%  since the start of the year. At this price, the stock trades at a P/E ratio of 13.5x earnings, which is below the main market financial sector average.

Source: (PJX Financials)

• Between 2021-22, Trinidad & Tobago (T&T) will experience consecutive years of real GDP growth for the first time since 2012-13 amid sustained demand for energy exports and recovering private consumption. 
• However, Fitch Solutions has revised its 2021 real GDP growth forecast to 3.4%, from 4.4% previously, as a Q221 COVID-19 outbreak delayed the rebound in private consumption. In contrast, the agency has revised its 2022 forecast upwards to 2.5%, from 2.0%, as Fitch expects vaccinations to strengthen consumption in the quarters ahead. 
• Risks to Fitch’s 2022 forecast are weighted to the downside as economic growth in developed markets has likely peaked, which could undermine demand for energy exports in the quarters ahead.

(Source: Fitch Solutions)

• In the coming weeks, Mexico’s Congress is likely to pass the necessary legislation to hold a recall referendum in March 2022, in which voters will decide if President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) should serve the rest of his term through September 2024. 
• Fitch Solutions believes that AMLO is a favourite to win the vote, based on available polling and background conditions such as a recovering economy and growing COVID-19 vaccinations. 
• However, if AMLO does lose the vote, the country would likely face a prolonged period of uncertainty and gridlock as all parties wait for the July 2024 general elections.

(Source: Fitch Solutions)

• The British public's expectations for inflation over the coming year have shot up by a record amount this month, raising the risk that the Bank of England will send a hawkish message soon, Citi said on Tuesday. 
• The monthly inflation expectations survey showed that public inflation expectations for the next 12 months jumped to 4.1% in September from 3.1% in August, the biggest monthly increase since the survey began more than 15 years ago. 
• Longer-term inflation expectations for the next five to 10 years rose to 3.8% in September from 3.5% in August. “Today’s data, especially the movement in long-term expectations, suggest growing risks to inflation expectations could become de-anchored to the upside. The sharp increase risks a hawkish response from the (Monetary Policy Committee) this week," Citi said. 
• Financial markets expect the BoE to start raising interest rates early next year, possibly as soon as February, though most economists think a move will only come towards the end of 2022.

(Source: Reuters)

• The S&P 500 slipped Tuesday, as an intraday rebound faded amid slowing global growth worries and difficulties in China ahead of the Federal Reserve monetary policy decision due Wednesday.  
• The S&P 500 fell 0.1%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.15% or 50 points, the Nasdaq added 0.2%. 
• Cyclical sectors including energy and consumer discretionary recovered some losses from Monday’s rout, but gains were kept in check by concerns about a potential economic crisis in China, and the wider implications for global growth, as beleaguered real estate giant Evergrande, is unlikely to receive a government bailout.

(Source:Investing.com)

• Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) affected by the COVID-19 pandemic are to benefit from $3.0Bn in loans and grant support through partnership between the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service and the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ). Three newly created products are being provided to MSMEs under the programme – MSME recovery loan facility; Go-Digital loan facility; and a Go-Digital Grant. 
• Under the DBJ’s Social and Economic Recovery and Vaccine (SERVE) Jamaica Programme, the entities will have access to funds to digitise their operations to better serve clients as well as recover from the economic fallout that has affected their cash flows. 
• Finance Minister, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, explained that the $2.0Bn MSME recovery loan facility will allow entities to access up to $10.0Mn at a rate of 5.0%. He noted that this loan can be used to address cash-flow deficiencies and refinance existing debt that might be too onerous for entities to undertake at this time. 
• In addition, the $1.0Bn Go-Digital loan facility should allow businesses to transform their operations by acquiring the appropriate software that allows them to handle their customer, human resource or accounting needs and, therefore, position them in a more resilient position to face this pandemic.

(Source: JIS News)

• The scale of the economic and fiscal challenges facing the new Philip Davis-led administration were laid bare Friday, after Moody’s further downgraded The Bahamas’ sovereign creditworthiness. 
• The credit rating agency, in reducing the country’s long-term issuer and senior unsecured ratings to ‘Ba3’ from ‘Ba2’, warned that the devastation inflicted by COVID-19 and Hurricane Dorian will have “lasting consequences” for the Bahamian economy with stopover arrivals only returning to pre-pandemic numbers in 2024. 
• This latest action plunges The Bahamas further into non-investment grade or ‘junk’ status, with Moody’s adding that the country’s $10.356Bn national debt is now more than six times’ bigger than the Government’s annual income or revenue base. 
• The consequences of the latest downgrade include a further potential increase in the Government’s borrowing costs when it goes out to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in more debt financing later this year.

(Source: Moody’s Investor Service & The Tribune)

• Fitch Solutions expects surging oil revenues will narrow the Guyanese government’s fiscal deficit over the coming years even as the current administration drastically increases spending. 
• The agency forecast the budget deficit will narrow to 4.7% of GDP in 2021 and 3.2% in 2022, from 5.8% in 2020. 
• While the country’s debt stock will rise from 34.7% of GDP (2020) to finance its deficit, it is expected that the debt will peak at 36.0% of GDP in 2021, and stabilise thereafter as substantial economic growth helps to contain debt accumulation.

(Source: Fitch Solutions)

• Over the past month, Fitch Solutions has made downward revisions to its growth outlook for the US and China. For the US, the 2021 growth forecast was lowered from 6.2% to 6.0% on the back of continued supply-side challenges. 
• For China, Fitch revised its growth forecast from 8.5% to 8.3%. This has placed downside pressure on the 5.7% global growth forecast that it has penciled in for the full year, and consensus global growth expectations have declined slightly from 6.0% to 5.9% over the past month. 
• These dynamics are confirmed by high frequency data such as exports, purchasing managers' index (PMI) surveys, credit growth and confidence indicators - all of which point to the fact that growth peaked several months ago. Looking to 2022, Fitch forecasts another year of above-trend growth of 4.2% although it is also slightly below consensus estimates of 4.5%. Continued progress in terms of vaccinations and only a gradual removal of policy support underpin the view for still-strong growth.

(Source: Fitch Solutions)

• World stocks sold off sharply on Monday while safe-haven assets gained as troubles at property group China Evergrande fed concerns about spillover risks to the economy, sparking fresh investor worries ahead of a busy week of central bank meetings. 
• MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe shed 1.63%, its biggest one-day percentage fall day in about two months, as Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 sagged 1.7% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled 2.2%. 
• Worries over Evergrande come as a rally in equities has stalled recently with investors focused on the impact of coronavirus cases on the economy, and when central banks will ease back on monetary stimulus. Given the Evergrande concerns investors moved into safe havens, with U.S. Treasuries gaining in price, and pulling down yields.

(Source: Reuters)