• The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining has earmarked $6 billion to be spent over the next six years to revitalise the agricultural sector, through a redevelopment programme at the Bodles Agricultural Research Station in St. Catherine.
• Portfolio Minister, Hon. Floyd Green, told journalists that this transformative initiative will modernise the facility to meet world-class standards and enhance its capacity. At the heart of this transformation is the construction of a new state-of-the-art piggery, to enable advanced genetic research on pig breeds to further bolster the country’s pork industry.
• “Anybody who has been looking at our pork industry can say that we have come a far way in terms of the quality of the animal and quantity of pork that we are able to supply,” said Mr. Green, following a tour of the Pan Caribbean Sugar Company Frome Factory in Westmoreland on January 8. “We now want to take on the [Caribbean Region] in terms of export in a very big way, more so in value-added processing, such as sausages and bacon, as well as trying to supply the hotel sector,” he added.
• Green pointed out that plans also include the construction of a modern goat house and dairy facilities, along with the upgrading of research laboratories. He noted that approximately $1 billion has already been allocated for the project, now in its first year. The programme would extend to other key research stations, including the facilities in Hounslow, Orange River and Montpelier, to restore them to global standards.

(Source: JIS)

• The Guyanese government has expressed concerns that neighbouring Venezuela is still pushing to control Guyana’s oil-rich Essequibo region. This comes after it was reported President Nicolás Maduro plans to hold an election to elect a “Governor of the Guayana Esequiba” by “the people of Guyana Esequiba.”
• In a statement, Guyana’s foreign ministry said any plans would violate the Argyle Agreement which was signed in St Vincent and the Grenadines in December 2023, where both countries agreed to avoid any further actions which would escalate the ongoing territory dispute.
• The Guyanese Government have also said it will seek assistance from the United Nation’s top court to stop Venezuela’s plans. According to the Associated Press, it said plans by Venezuela to administratively incorporate Essequibo into Venezuela “not only jeopardise the judicial process, but also undermine the authority of the court as the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.”
• Venezuela has long claimed Essequibo as its own as the region was within its boundaries during the Spanish colonial period. Essequibo has been administered by Guyana for over 100 years after a decision in 1899 by an international tribunal granted it to Britain, who had colonial rule over the territory at the time.
• The area was previously known as British Guiana. However, Venezuela has always argued the decision was unfair and says Essequibo belongs to them since it gained independence from Spain in 1811.
• After years of fruitless mediation, Guyana went to the World Court in 2018, asking judges to rule that the 1899 border decision is valid and binding. Venezuela argues that a 1966 agreement to resolve the dispute effectively nullified the original arbitration. A ruling is not expected this year because Venezuela was given until late August to reply to arguments made by Guyana.

(Sources: The Voice & AP News)

• The Brazilian central bank's economic policy director said on Monday the country's fiscal outlook still requires attention, even though the 2024 primary budget target had likely been met by the government.
• Diogo Guillen, Deputy Governor for Economic Policy at the Central Bank of Brazil, highlighted uncertainties regarding the achievement of fiscal targets in the coming years and analysts' projections pointing to a rising debt trajectory.
• Finance Minister Fernando Haddad had previously said that the government likely ended last year with a deficit of 0.1% of gross domestic product (GDP), within the zero-deficit goal that had a tolerance margin of 0.25% of GDP either way. According to Guillen, a less uncertain but more adverse scenario allowed the central bank to signal 100-basis-point interest rate hikes at each of its next two policy meetings through March.
• In December, policymakers accelerated the tightening cycle with a 100-basis-point increase that brought the benchmark Selic rate to 12.25%. Looking ahead, Guillen said it is important to assess the impact of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's policies on the economy, including how they will affect the exchange rate, expectations, and inflation dynamics in Brazil.
• While acknowledging those were critical topics to monitor, given their inevitable influence on domestic monetary policy, he stressed that recent developments have been more influenced by local conditions. That includes the resilience of economic activity, the state of credit markets and the fiscal situation, Guillen said.
• He added that harmony between monetary and fiscal policies was "the best answer to bring inflation to the target," emphasising that policymakers are "fully convinced" they have the tools to achieve the 3% inflation goal.

(Source: Reuters)

• U.S. job growth unexpectedly accelerated in December, while the unemployment rate fell to 4.1%. Consequently, the labour market ended the year on a solid footing, reinforcing views that the Federal Reserve would keep interest rates unchanged this month.
• The Labor Department's closely watched employment report on Friday, January 10, 2025, also showed a decline last month in the number of people who have permanently lost their jobs and a shortening in the median duration of unemployment.
• The upbeat report supported the U.S. central bank's cautious stance toward further monetary policy easing this year amid mounting fears that pledges by President-elect Donald Trump to impose or massively raise tariffs on imports and deport millions of undocumented immigrants could stoke inflation.
• Those worries were evident in Minutes of the Fed's Dec. 17-18 policy meeting published on Wednesday, which noted "most participants remarked that ... the Committee could take a careful approach in considering" further cuts.
• Given these factors, financial markets overwhelmingly expect the Fed to keep its benchmark overnight interest rate unchanged in the 4.25%-4.50% range at its Jan. 28-29 meeting, CME's FedWatch tool showed. The central bank has lowered its policy rate by 100 basis points since launching its easing cycle in September. Furthermore, economists do not expect rate cuts in the first half of this year.
• Last month, the Fed projected only two quarter-point rate cuts this year compared to the four it had forecasted in September, acknowledging the economy's endurance and still-elevated inflation. The policy rate was hiked by 5.25 percentage points in 2022 and 2023.

(Source: Reuters)

• Ten European Union (EU) countries have called for the 27-nation bloc to ban imports of pipeline gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia as Europe debates fresh sanctions on Moscow over the war in Ukraine.
• The EU is preparing its 16th package of sanctions targeting Russia's economy ahead of the third anniversary of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
• The 10 countries, including the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, and Finland, want Europe to go further in targeting Russia's fuel exports to cut the revenues flowing to Moscow. "As an end goal, it is necessary to ban the import of Russian gas and LNG at the earliest date possible," the countries said in a joint paper, which was also signed by Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Sweden.
• "An alternative to the full ban could be to gradually reduce the use of Russian gas and LNG as has also already been set out in the RePowerEU Roadmap," the document said, referring to the EU's existing aim to end its use of Russian fossil fuels by 2027.
• The EU has already sanctioned seaborne oil imports from Russia but, so far, has not banned gas imports from Moscow because some EU countries continue to rely on them. The countries said Russian LNG tankers should also be banned from docking inside the EU.
• Europe's gas imports from former top supplier Russia have plunged since 2022, and the bloc has hiked imports of U.S. LNG and expanded its use of renewable energy to help fill the gap. Russian gas imports dropped further this month when a contract bringing Russian fuel to Europe via Ukraine expired. Notwithstanding, Slovakia has vowed to try to resume that deal.

(Source: Reuters)

• Sygnus Credit Investments Limited (SCI) has advised on the Basis of Allotment of its JMD and USD Perpetual Cumulative Redeemable Preference Shares.
• The Invitation closed on Monday December 30, 2024 at 4:30 p.m. and was oversubscribed in all classes. The company received approval to upsize both classes of shares.
• Consequently, all applicants of both Class H & I Preference Shares will be allotted 100% of the amount applied for.
• Class H shares were oversubscribed by 42.69% or 5,123,000 shares and was upsized to 17,123,000. Similarly, Class I shares were oversubscribed by 10.25% or 205,080 shares and was upsized to 2,205,080. Overall, the dollar value of shares allotted amounted to J$1.71Bn and US$22.05Mn respectively.

(Source: JSE)

• The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining is reporting growth in the marine fish production sector. Portfolio Minister, Hon. Floyd Green, said marine fish production from April to September 2024 was 3,758,900 kilogrammes.
• “Our marine fish production would have seen a 51% increase in terms of production… which again we believe is due to better data collection, improved fishing techniques, and increased numbers of registered fisherfolk. Aquaculture production, on the other hand, was 174 metric tonnes, with over 713 acres of ponds being in production,” Mr. Green said.
• The Minister was speaking at a press conference held recently at the Ministry’s Hope Gardens offices. Mr. Green also highlighted the positive impact of the fish sanctuaries on the sector.
• The National Fisheries Authority is responsible for the conservation and sustainable utilisation of the Jamaica fisheries resources in a manner that ensures optimum social and economic benefits to Jamaica.

(Source: JIS)

• The Bank of Mexico could increase the size of cuts to its benchmark interest rate in future meetings as inflation eases in Latin America's second-largest economy, minutes from the central bank's December monetary policy meeting showed on Thursday, January 9, 2025.
• Banxico, as the Mexican central bank is known, lowered its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 10.00% in a unanimous decision by its five-member governing board last month.
• "In view of the progress on disinflation, larger downward adjustments could be considered in some meetings, albeit maintaining a restrictive stance," the minutes said. A breakdown of all the board members' positions showed several of them supporting the discussion of larger rate cuts.
• Banxico began a rate-cutting cycle last March amid easing inflation, ultimately delivering five 25bos cuts and bringing the benchmark rate down from the record 11.25% reached in 2023.
• At the December meeting, one of the five members pointed to "the undeniable progress in disinflation" as supporting their view that "it is necessary to increase the magnitude of rate cuts in some of the upcoming monetary policy decisions." Another member noted "the importance of communicating that larger adjustments of larger magnitude could be implemented at the next policy meetings."
• The minutes showed that while two members called for caution in December, the board highlighted inflation's downward trajectory, even while upwardly revising its year-end inflation forecasts for 2025 at the meeting.
• Mexico's annual headline inflation rate fell more than expected in December, reaching 4.21%, official data published earlier on Thursday showed. Banxico targets inflation at 3%, plus or minus one percentage point.

(Source: Reuters)

• Bahamas Prime Minister, Philip Davis, recently announced the reduction of value-added taxes (VAT) on all food items to 5% from 10% starting on April 1^st. He added that with the reduction, the government aims to bring the economy to a stable and secure footing.
• PM Davis added that the VAT reductions would provide major relief to the consumers in financial terms. The reduction is set to be levied on all food items in stores, including fresh fruits and vegetables, lunch snacks, baby food and frozen foods. However, it would not apply to prepared foods in the deli.
• PM Davis added that the rate reduction will also apply to the importation of all food items and the date of April 1^st will allow merchants and food stores to make the adjustments. 
• Discussing the Bahamas economy from three years ago, Prime Minister Philip Davis said, “it was in shambles, and the finances were in freefall while the hospitals, schools and communities were in deep crisis”.  He also emphasised the government’s efforts in pulling the nation back from the fiscal brink.   
• Furthermore, Philip Davis cited the high cost of living as one of the most stubborn problems of the country and explained that VAT is not the cause of the high price of food but for the ones having the tightest disposable income, reduction of VAT by 50% will surely make a huge difference. 
• He further reiterated his administration’s commitment to working towards lower the cost of energy, improve the energy infrastructure and provide affordable housing and healthcare.

(Source: WIC News)

• The union representing 45,000 dock workers on the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts and their employers on Wednesday said they reached a tentative deal on a new six-year contract, averting further strikes that could have snarled supply chains and taken a toll on the U.S. economy.
• The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) employer group, in a joint statement, called the agreement a "win-win." The deal includes a resolution in automation, the thorniest issue on the table.
• "This agreement protects current ILA jobs and establishes a framework for implementing technologies that will create more jobs while modernising East and Gulf coast ports – making them safer and more efficient and creating the capacity they need to keep our supply chains strong," the groups said.
• The National Retail Federation, which represents major customers like Walmart, and Target, said the agreement should bring certainty back to ocean shipping by reducing the risk of disruptions at East and Gulf Coast ports that handle more than half of U.S. container imports.
• "The agreement will also pave the way for much-needed modernisation efforts, which are essential for future growth at these ports and the overall resiliency of our nation's supply chain," said Jonathan Gold, NRF's vice president of supply chain and customs policy.

(Source: Reuters)