The dollar fell 0.6% on Friday, with global risk appetite boosted by the apparent clearing of two clouds that have been hanging over world markets: U.S.-China tariffs due on Dec. 15 and Britain’s election.
Currency traders expect the U.S.-China trade war to de-escalate after U.S. sources said Washington had set out its terms for a trade deal.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s pro-Brexit Conservative party won a majority, which markets expect will fulfill Johnson’s promises to end the uncertainty around the UK’s departure from the EU.
The Japanese yen, which fell when early indications of the UK election result were announced on Thursday evening, continued to slide on Friday. It was last down 0.3%, heading towards its lowest against the dollar in more than six months JPY=EBS.
The dollar index. DXY was down 0.6%, its biggest daily fall in six months.
Moody's Investors Service on December 11, 2019, upgraded the Government of Jamaica's long-term issuer and senior unsecured ratings to B2 from B3. The outlook has been changed to stable from positive.
The upgraded rating reflects Jamaica's strong commitment to fiscal consolidation and structural reforms that portend of continued decline in government debt and sustained improvements in economic resiliency. Additionally, its improving debt structure limits risks associated with high levels of government debt.
The stable outlook reflects Moody's expectations that the improvements in Jamaica's credit profile, which have improved macroeconomic stability and put the debt on a downward trend, will be sustained. The stable outlook also reflects the structural credit constraints due to the country's small size, sizeable economic concentration in the tourism industry, low economic growth and vulnerability to external shock.
The rating could be upgraded if it is concluded that the government is committed to institutional and economic reforms, combined with evidence of higher real GDP growth that will result in greater economic resiliency. Debt declines and increases in external buffers beyond current expectations would also be positive.
A sharp reversal in the decline in government debt would weigh on Jamaica's credit profile, particularly as Jamaica's B2 rating incorporates a steady decline in the debt-to-GDP ratio as well as adverse exchange rate developments. An increase in external vulnerability, as reflected in a decline in the country's international reserve buffer would also be negative. Severe weather-related events that materially affect government finances threatening the sovereign's ability to service debt could also trigger a negative rating action.
On 11 December 2019, the Government of Barbados (the “Government”) announced the successful issuance of new 6.500% Bonds due 2029 (the “2029 Bonds”) and new 6.500% Bonds due 2021 (the “PDI Bonds”) in connection with the settlement of the invitations and consent solicitations.
The exchange of all eligible claims for the 2029 Bonds and the PDI Bonds plus cash consideration became binding on all holders, including non-participating holders, as a result of extraordinary resolutions passed for the relevant series of eligible claims or, for certain instruments, due to the unanimous agreement of all relevant holders.
The aggregate principal amount of 2029 Bonds issued was the U.S.$530,595,100.00 and the aggregate principal amount of PDI Bonds issued was U.S.$32,481,500.00.
A strong labor market in the United States will drive continued remittance inflow growth in El Salvador and lead to a decline in El Salvador’s current account deficit over the coming quarters.
Fitch has revised its current account forecasts for 2019 to a deficit of 3.3% of GDP, from 4.6% previously, and for 2020 to 3.2%, from 4.7%, given stronger than expected remittance inflows and weaker import growth over recent quarters.
A significant slowdown in US real GDP growth poses downside risks to the forecast as weaker economic activity in the US would decrease remittance inflows into El Salvador.
Oil prices rose on Thursday, recouping some of the previous session’s losses after OPEC forecast a supply deficit next year and the U.S. Federal Reserve said the economic outlook was favorable.
Prices had fallen on Wednesday after a report showed an unexpected increase in U.S. crude inventories. The market picked up on Thursday, although the International Energy Agency (IEA) and The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) offered different prospects for the oil market in 2020.
Brent LCOc1 rose 41 cents, or 0.6%, to $64.13 a barrel by 1005 GMT. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 was up 22 cents, or 0.4%, at $58.98 a barrel.
IEA said on Thursday that global oil inventories could rise sharply despite an agreement by OPEC and its allies to deepen output cuts and expectations for lower production by the United States and other non-OPEC countries.
Voters went to the polls on Thursday in an election that will pave the way for Brexit under Prime Minister Boris Johnson or propel Britain towards another referendum that could ultimately reverse the decision to leave the European Union.
After failing to deliver Brexit by an Oct. 31 deadline, Johnson called the election to break what he cast as political paralysis that had thwarted Britain’s departure and sapped confidence in the economy.
All major opinion polls suggest Johnson will win, though pollsters got the 2016 referendum wrong and their models predict outcomes ranging from a hung parliament to the biggest Conservative landslide since the era of Margaret Thatcher.
Seven eve-of-election opinion polls published on Wednesday showed the Conservatives ahead of Labour by an average of nearly 10 points although Labour narrowed the gap in four of them.
The Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) will be on-lending $5Bn to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) over the next 12 months.
This was announced by Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, at the launch of the 50th anniversary of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) operations in Jamaica, at its country offices, in Kingston recently.
The Minister informed that the undertaking will be facilitated under the Government’s revamped Credit Enhancement Facility (CEF).
The CEF, which is financed by the IDB, was established in 2009 to increase access to credit for MSMEs that lacked adequate collateral to secure loans.
Through the facility, the DBJ provides partial guarantees to affiliated Approved Financial Institutions (AFIs) to cover up to 90% of the sum of individual MSME loans not exceeding $49.3Mn, for up to 10 years.
Jamaica is now ranked 96 out of 189 countries and territories with a human development index (HDI) of 0.726. The report was released Monday by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Richard Kelly, the Program Specialist at the UNDP, said the new ranking represents a 13.2 percent increase in Jamaica's HDI value between 1990 and 2018.
"For life expectancy, the country has gone up by 1.2 years. For mean years of schooling, we are up by 3.9 years and for expected years of schooling, we are up by 1.9 years, between 1990 and 2018," Mr. Kelly revealed.
In addition, Jamaica's Gross National Income (GNI) per capita jumped by 20.2 percent from 1990 to 2018. The ranking puts Jamaica in the high human development category and is shared with Venezuela.
However, Jamaica's 2018 HDI is below the average for countries in the high human development group and below the average for countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Mexico’s inflation slowed to slightly below the central bank’s target for the first time since 2016, bolstering economists’ expectations that policymakers will keep cutting interest rates this month.
Consumer prices rose 2.97% in November from a year earlier, less than the 3% forecast by economists in a Bloomberg survey, Mexico’s statistics agency reported on Monday. Prices increased by 0.81% from a month earlier. The central bank targets inflation of 3%, plus or minus 1 percentage point.
The central bank has said it will lower interest rates in a gradual manner despite the fact that real rates are one of the highest among emerging markets and the economy fell in technical recession at the beginning of the year.
The Dominican peso (DOP) will maintain its steady depreciation versus the US dollar as the Banco Central de la República Dominicana (BCRD) keeps a ‘managed float’ regime in place to support export competitiveness.
While the Dominican economy will likely experience a modest slowdown in real GDP growth in the coming quarters, the economy will remain an attractive destination for foreign investment, which will drive capital inflows and bolster demand for Dominican assets
Fitch Solutions maintain the forecast that the unit will average Ps51.3/USD in 2019, but have revised the 2020 average forecast to Ps53.6/USD, from Ps52.6/USD previously, as a stronger dollar will weigh on emerging market FX.
