• The United Kingdom is liable to pay 47.5 billion euros ($56.23 billion) to the European Union as part of its post-Brexit financial settlement, according to the EU's consolidated budget report for 2020. The report adds that the money is owed under a series of articles which both sides agreed to as part of the Brexit withdrawal agreement. 
• The total amount is significantly higher than expected. The UK's Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) predicted in its March 2018 economic and fiscal outlook report that the bill would amount to 41.4 billion euros. 
• An initial amount of 6.8 billion euros is due for payment in 2021, the EU's consolidated budget report added, with the remainder of the amount to be paid later. A sum total amount of 47.5 billion euros was mentioned in the report as "net receivable from the UK". 
• A trade and cooperation deal between the UK and EU was struck in December after more than four years of acrimonious negotiations and lingering mistrust as Britain ended 47 years of EU membership.

(Source: Reuters)

• Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, says the investments made by Chukka Caribbean Adventures to upgrade and reopen facilities in Jamaica, during the coronavirus pandemic, is a further indication of investor confidence in the strengthening of the local tourism sector. Chukka spent US$2Mn on a new nature adventure park, which opened in Sandy Bay, Hanover last December, and a further US$250,000 to upgrade its Good Hope attraction in Trelawny, which reopened July 2. 
• Minister Bartlett stated that as a reliable partner and a major credit to Jamaica’s tourism offerings, Chukka’s contribution to the tourism industry is immeasurable. Their attractions remain world-class, both in product and service, and they are also a major pull factor for both cruise and stopover visitors. 
• Chief Executive Officer of Chukka Caribbean Adventures, Marc Melville, told JIS News that the company has always been guided by the old adage that “wherever there is a crisis there are always opportunities, and that was something we felt to the core while battling this pandemic”. “In the middle of this, many people would have stopped investing. Investment comes out of hope and confidence and… knowing that we were going in the right direction. That allowed us to go against the tide, put our money where our mouth is and build out the [facilities] that we now have on full display,” he noted.

(Source: JIS)

• Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett, says the recovery of the tourism sector is taking place faster than anticipated with arrivals for the year now projected at 1.8Mn visitors up from the previous estimate of 1.61Mn. If this is realized, total visitor arrivals would be 2.43Mn below the total 4.23Mn arrivals reported in 2019, but 0.47Mn above total arrivals in 2020. He credited the strong performance to Jamaica’s management of the pandemic, noting that the “quality of the product was maintained”, which has “done us well”. 
• He noted that over the last three months, weekend arrivals have been significant, averaging 15,000 visitors over the three-day period, and with new flights coming into the island, the numbers are poised to increase even further. This, he said, means that jobs and revenue flows were coming back at a much faster rate. 
• John Byles, the chairman of the Tourism Resilient Corridors Committee (TRCC) and Vice President for Tourism in the Private Sector Organization of Jamaica (PSOJ), said that if the current growth trajectory for stopover arrivals continues, coupled with the expected return of the cruise ships in the fall season, Jamaica could report total arrivals equivalent to its pre-COVID numbers “from summer all the way into the winter”.

(Source: JIS)

• The troubled Caribbean nation of Haiti was plunged into chaos after its president, Jovenel Moise, was assassinated in a nighttime raid. This led acting Prime Minister Claude Joseph to declare a state of emergency. 
• Joseph said the president was murdered by highly trained and heavily armed killers who stormed the presidential residence above the capital Port-Au-Prince at around 1 a.m on Wednesday. 
• The first lady Martine Moise was also injured in the attack and Haiti’s ambassador to Washington, Bocchit Edmond, said she was being medically evacuated to South Florida. Miami’s Local 10 News said the first lady had been taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital in stable but critical condition, with gunshot wounds to her arms and thigh. 
• A nation of 11 million and the poorest in the Americas, Haiti has been terrorized for months by gang violence, driving thousands from their homes. President Moise, accused by human rights groups of links to the gangs, was ruling by decree and increasingly seen as an autocrat. Elections were scheduled for September but concerns were growing about whether they would be held. 
• With a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita of US$1,149.50 and a Human Development Index ranking of 170 out of 189 countries in 2020, Haiti remains the poorest country in the Latin America and Caribbean region and among the poorest countries in the world. The Haitian economy contracted by 3.7% in 2020 (IMF) as the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the already weak economy and political instability. The country is expected to expand by 1% this year however its vulnerability to natural disasters, a potential worsening of the viral outbreak, and a resurgence of civil unrest could undermine this forecast.

(Source: Bloomberg & NCBCM Research)

• President Joe Biden’s top trade negotiator said that the U.S. has “real concerns” about Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s energy policy and will look for avenues to address them. 
• The American and Canadian energy industries say the leader known as AMLO is discriminating against foreign companies with changes to electricity and hydrocarbons laws. 
• His administration has sought to roll back the 2013-2014 energy reforms that opened Mexico to private drilling, working to return much of the energy sector to state-owned crude producer Petroleos Mexicanos and electric utility Comision Federal de Electricidad. 
• “We are raising our concerns, we are here to engage, and we will be exploring avenues for addressing our concerns,” U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai told reporters on Wednesday after finishing a meeting with Mexican Economy Minister Tatiana Clouthier and Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng.

(Source: Reuters)

• The European Commission upgraded its euro zone growth forecasts on Wednesday, shrugging off growing worries about new COVID-19 variants and the impact of supply bottlenecks on factory production in Germany, the region's top economy. 
• German industrial output fell in May, data showed, while the country's main auto association downgraded its 2021 car sales forecast. Persistent global semiconductor shortages were cited as a factor in both. 
• The European Union's executive Commission nonetheless predicted the euro zone will grow by 4.8% this year, after the reopening of economies in the second quarter and on hopes of a better tourist season. That is much faster than the 4.3% expansion it had forecast in May. The rebound from the economic crisis caused by the pandemic is projected to continue next year, when the euro zone is forecast to grow by 4.5%, more than the 4.4% estimated in May. 
• But the Commission warned its estimates were based on the assumption there will be a further easing of pandemic-induced restrictions in the second half of 2021. Risks about the outlook therefore remained high, although they were seen as balanced.

(Source: Reuters)

• The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday said further fiscal support in the United States could fuel inflationary pressures and warned that the risk of a sustained rise in prices could require raising interest rates earlier-than-expected. 
• Higher U.S. interest rates, in turn, could lead to a sharp tightening of global financial conditions and significant capital outflows from emerging and developing economies, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a blog published Wednesday with the IMF's surveillance note for G20 countries. 
• The IMF's assessment of U.S. inflation risks comes amid sharp criticism by Republican lawmakers of President Joe Biden's multi-trillion-dollar plans to boost spending on infrastructure, child care, community college tuition and expanded coverage of home care for the elderly and disabled. 
• Georgieva said an accelerated recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, where growth is seen reaching 7% in 2021, would benefit many countries through increased trade, but rising inflation could be more sustained than expected. The IMF forecasts global growth of 6%. Other countries face rising commodity and food prices, which are now at their highest level since 2014, putting millions of people at risk of food insecurity, the IMF said in its report. 
• The IMF urged countries to continue accommodative monetary policies, while closely monitoring inflation and financial stability risks. In countries where the recovery was accelerating, such as the United States, it would be "essential" to avoid overreacting to transitory increases in inflation, Georgieva said.

(Source: Reuters)

• Eppley Limited recently published its prospectus inviting investors to subscribe to three classes of preference shares valued at J$1.20Bn in total. The company has invited investors to purchase 15Mn Class A shares with a dividend yield of 5.00% that mature in 2023; 25Mn Class B shares with a dividend yield of 7.25% that mature in 2026; and 20Mn Class C shares with a dividend yield of 7.75% that mature in 2028.  All three classes of shares are priced at J$20 per share. 
• The proceeds will be used to refinance existing debt, specifically the following issues: US$1.50Mn note due August 2021 (4.75% pa), J$361.60Mn preference shares due December 2021 (8.25% pa), J$335Mn note due July 2022 (8.00% pa) and J$250Mn preference shares due December 2023 (8.75% pa). A portion of the proceeds will also be used to pay the expenses of the invitation, which the directors believe will not exceed $35Mn. 
• The success of this raise will help to strengthen the company’s financial position and contribute to cost savings since it will result in a reduction in the average interest cost of the existing debt issues. In addition to this, the newly issued preference shares are all denominated in $J dollars, which means that it will remove the foreign exchange risk on the USD debt. 
• Eppley currently has four preference shares listed on the stock market, which include: EPPLEY 7.50% (J$7.00), EPPLEY 8.25% (J$6.00), EPPLEY 6.00% (US$1.01) and EPPLEY 8.75% (J$7.52).  The EPPLEY 7.50% and 8.25% issues have appreciated by 57.0% and 18.3% respectively, since the start of the year, while the EPPLEY 6.00% has remained flat at US$1.01. The EPPLEY 8.75% on the other hand has declined by 3.2% year to date.

(Source: Eppley Prospectus & NCBCM Research)

• With strict security measures and protocols to protect tourists and residents against COVID-19, most of the Caribbean islands, including Jamaica, have been reopened to international travelers. However, several islands have volatile entry requirements as COVID cases rise or fall irregularly. Considering the variations in the pandemic protocols, tourist product offerings and reviews by visitors and experts, Insider Monkey published a list of 25 Caribbean countries to visit on which Jamaica was ranked 2nd. 
• The ranking was based on Jamaica’s lush green mountains, golden beaches, turquoise waters, coral reefs, and rainforests, which underscores the diversity of experience the island offers to visitors. The safety measures implemented by the island, provide visitors with a greater sense of security in the government’s intent and ability to protect their well-being. 
• This positive ranking augurs well for the sector, which is expected to see the pace of recovery accelerate during H2 2021, aided by the progress in vaccination programmes, fiscal stimulus, economic re-opening and falling unemployment in source markets. 
• Insider Monkey is a finance website that provides free insider trading and hedge fund data to ordinary investors. It also provides high quality evidence based articles to inform individual investors about the intricacies of investing.

(Source: Insider Monkey & NCBCM Research)

• The Guyanese government's fiscal deficit will narrow to 4.7% of GDP in 2021, from 5.8% in 2020, due to accelerating public revenue growth.  
• While the country’s oil boom underpinned 43.5% real GDP growth in 2020, depressed economic activity in the non-oil sector caused total revenues to contract 6.9%. In addition, the price of Brent crude oil fell below pre-COVID-19 levels throughout much of the year, limiting the government’s intake from oil sales. 
• In 2021, broadening economic growth and higher energy prices will drive revenue growth and help shrink the budget shortfall. Notwithstanding, President Irfaan Ali will likely sustain higher public spending levels in the short-to-medium term, which will keep the budget balance in deficit despite the revenue-positive tailwinds.

(Source: Fitch Solutions)