• Fitch Solutions forecast Panama’s fiscal deficit will narrow to 7.4% of GDP in 2021, from an estimated 10.3% in 2020, amid a rebound in economic activity that will support revenue growth.
• However, the agency has revised its 2021 forecast from 6.7% previously, due to limited prospects for expenditure consolidation and revisions to the country’s deficit cap.
• Despite wider deficits over the coming years, it expects investor appetite for Panamanian assets will limit borrowing costs and contain financing risks.

(Source: Fitch Solutions)

• Fitch Solutions expects that credit growth in Mexico will rise to 1.4% y-o-y in 2021, up from -1.2% in 2020, as the economy rebounds and monetary conditions remain loose.
• Other indicators of the banking sector’s health, including leverage and non-performing loans, do not suggest the banking sector’s stability is likely to be threatened in the near term.
• Fitch Solutions maintains its constructive long-term outlook on the sector, given Mexico’s economic upside and relatively low levels of banking sector penetration.

(Source: Fitch Solutions)

• Oil prices rose in early trade on Wednesday, adding to solid gains overnight, on expectations the incoming U.S. administration will go ahead with massive stimulus spending that would boost fuel demand and drawdown crude stocks.
• U.S West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures climbed 23 cents, or 0.4%, to $53.21 a barrel, building on a 1.2% rise on Tuesday. Brent crude futures rose 25 cents, or 0.5%, to $56.15 a barrel, adding to a 2.1% gain on Tuesday.
• U.S President-elect Joe Biden's Treasury Secretary nominee Janet Yellen urged lawmakers on Tuesday to "act big" on pandemic relief spending, reinforcing hopes of massive spending to boost growth.
• The oil market continued to rise despite the International Energy Agency has cut its outlook for first-quarter oil demand by 580,000 barrels per day, due to tight lockdowns in Europe and border closures to stop soaring COVID-19 infections.

(Source: Reuters)

• Janet Yellen, U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's nominee for Treasury Secretary, urged lawmakers on Tuesday to "act big" on coronavirus relief spending, arguing that the economic benefits far outweigh the risks of a higher debt burden.
• In more than three hours of confirmation hearing testimony, the former Federal Reserve chair laid out a vision of a more muscular Treasury that would act aggressively to reduce economic inequality, fight climate change and counter China's unfair trade and subsidy practices.
• Taxes on corporations and the wealthy will eventually need to rise to help finance Biden's ambitious plans for investing in infrastructure, research, and development, and for worker training to improve the U.S. economy's competitiveness, she told members of the Senate Finance Committee.

(Source: Reuters)

• Paramount Trading (Jamaica) Limited recorded a 50.2% (or $19.85Mn) year over year reduction in unaudited net profit to $19.70Mn (EPS: $0.013) for the six months ended November 30, 2020.
• The main drivers for this outturn were 13.0% (or $99.61Mn) and a 44.3% (or $10.15Mn) fall-off in revenues and other operating income, respectively. A 39.0% (or $6.90Mn) increase in net finance costs due to a rise in long-term liabilities also contributed to the lower net profit.
• The unfavorable performance of the aforementioned drivers was tempered by a 15.8% (or $84.84Mn) reduction indirect expenses and a 4.8% ($9.13Mn) drop in operating expenses. The company continues to benefit from its efforts at cost rationalization and restructuring during this time.
• The company’s stock price has fallen by 13.8% since the start of the year, closing Thursday’s trading session at $1.25. At this price, the stock currently trades at a P/E of 59.5x earnings, which is above the Junior Market Distribution Sector Average of 20.7x.

(Source: Paramount Financials)

• Mexico on Thursday published rules implementing a new law on foreign agents, such as U.S. drug-enforcement officials, watering down legislation that caused major friction with the United States and raised fears it could block counter-narcotics cooperation.
• Lawmakers last month amended Mexico’s security law to restrict the work of foreign security officials on Mexican soil despite fierce opposition from Washington, straining ties and calling into question extensive cooperation with the United States.
• The change in law, requested by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, was widely seen as retaliation against the United States following the arrest on drug charges of former Mexican Defense Minister Salvador Cienfuegos in Los Angeles in October.

(Source: Reuters)

• The Colombian government said on Thursday that it was pressing ahead with the reintegration into society of demobilized FARC guerrillas and that they should not be dissuaded from continuing in the process by attacks on former rebels.
• The Andean country signed a peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in 2016, ending the leftist rebel group’s part in an armed conflict that has left 260,000 dead and millions displaced.
• Bearing the same FARC acronym, the rebel group turned into a political party which opposes the government of President Ivan Duque and insists that implementation of the peace deal is advancing too slowly.

(Source: Reuters)

• The International Monetary Fund is urging countries to continue strong fiscal and monetary efforts to support their economies given continued uncertainty about the risks posed by a resurgence in COVID-19 cases and new variants.
• "The global economy is at a critical juncture," IMF spokesman Gerry Rice told reporters at an online briefing. "There remains a great deal of uncertainty ... and the prospect for a still very difficult period ahead with infection surges and people continuing to suffer."
• Rice said the IMF would release an updated global economic forecast on Jan. 26 that would reflect recent developments, including the development and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and fresh stimulus measures in the United States and Japan.
• In October, the Fund forecast a 4.4% global GDP contraction for 2020, followed by a rebound to growth of 5.2% for 2021.

(Source: Reuters)

• From canceled hotel bookings ahead of the Lunar New Year to steel piled up at mills because of transport curbs in Hebei province, China's battle against a new wave of COVID-19 infections clouds what has been a dramatic economic recovery.
• New cases in China are at 10-month highs, prompting the lockdown of 28 million people in two provinces, disrupting logistics and industrial activity, with millions expected to scrap holiday travel plans in a blow to China's efforts to get consumption back on track.
• Thanks partly to surging global demand for Chinese-made electronics and gear to protect from coronavirus, China looks set to be the only major economy to expand in 2020, with growth expected at 2.1%.
• Given the limited geographic spread of the outbreaks and improved testing and containment, economists do not expect anything approaching a repeat of what happened in the first quarter of last year when the emergence of the coronavirus resulted in the world's second-largest economy contracting by 6.8%.

(Source: Reuters)

• On December 28, 2020, iCreate Limited, at its hybrid Annual General Meeting (AGM) announced several initiatives to boost revenues and profitability. The company’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Tyrone Wilson disclosed to the shareholders a second division being the Opportunity Ventures Division.
• This division will start with the Creative City Initiative, an acquisition of an e-commerce company, Mobile Edge, and the Reggae Sunsplash Music Festival - all coming together to form ventures that can help to grow the creative and technology industries.  
• This initiative, the first of its kind in Jamaica, will include the office space for the iCreate Institute, the company’s first division; studios for creatives (artists and marketers) with residential accommodations to service those needs; museums and co-working spaces.
• This will be facilitated through a Joint Venture Agreement, which was signed on December 23, 2020, with the proprietor of the lands for the New Kingston based project. The project is estimated to cost approximately J$1.00Bn and is scheduled to be completed in the next 24 months.

(Source: JSE