All application and processing fees for loans from the Students’ Loan Bureau (SLB) will be waived for the 2021 academic year.
This was announced by Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, during his contribution to the debate on the First Supplementary Estimates of Expenditure during the sitting of the House of Representatives on Wednesday (June 10).
He noted that the waiving of the fees is part of the Government’s commitment to ensuring tertiary education “remains affordable and accessible to all Jamaicans".
He said that as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, fewer students have been seeking to borrow funds from the SLB, as they cannot afford the fees to access and process the loans. Dr. Clarke noted that the temporary measure is in addition to the already announced waiving of late fees and a moratorium on all monthly payments to the SLB for three months as a response to COVID-19.
The Inter-American Development Bank said Tuesday that it granted a $250 million loan for El Salvador "to address the health and economic crisis caused by COVID-19."
The Salvadoran government will use the money for cash transfers to low-income earners and provide liquidity to cash-strapped companies, IDB said in a press release.
El Salvador's Finance Ministry said in a statement that the 20-year loan carries an interest rate of 2.11% per year. The new loan adds to a seven-year facility for $250 million that IDB provided to El Salvador last month at a rate of 115 basis points over Libor.
Guatemala will experience a sizeable recession in 2020, as public health restrictions and falling remittance inflows weigh on private consumption and reduced external demand leads to a contraction in exports.
Fitch has revised down its 2020 real GDP forecast from -2.1% y-o-y to -2.9%, as the economic impact of Covid-19 has worsened in recent weeks. Economic activity is expected to rebound to 3.5% growth in 2021.
The possibility of a second wave of infections in H220 poses downside risks to Fitch’s outlook for the Guatemalan economy.
The U.K. posted the biggest monthly fall in GDP (gross domestic product) on record in April, according to the Office for National Statistics.
GDP fell by 20.4% compared to the previous month, a sharper contraction than the 18.4% expected by analysts polled by Reuters. This represented a 24.5% decline from April 2019, as lockdowns necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic hammered economic activity.
In the three months up to the end of April, the economy contracted by 10.4% compared to the previous three-month period, the ONS also confirmed, again falling below analyst expectations of a 10% decline.
International trade is set to plunge by 27% in the second quarter and by 20% for the year, as major sectors including the automative and energy industries collapse from the effects the pandemic, a United Nations agency said on Thursday.
“Assuming persisting uncertainty, UNCTAD forecast indicates a decline of around 20% for the year 2020,” the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said in a report. “Trade in the automotive and energy sector collapsed while trade in agri-food products has been stable.”
The Bank of Jamaica in a press release on Tuesday indicated that it is aware of electronic retail payment services being offered to the public by unauthorized providers. Electronic retail payment services are those relating to the use of an electronic retail payment instrument, such as a prepaid card or mobile wallet.
The Central Bank and regulator of the payments services in Jamaica advised that to date, it has authorized only three (3) Payment Service Providers, to offer electronic retail payment services to the public. The entities currently authorized to provide the services are: Sagicor Bank (My Cash), National Commercial Bank (Quisk), and Alliance Financial Services Limited (EPay)
Persons are advised not to conduct business with unauthorized entities seeking to offer these services, as these entities are not authorized by the Central Bank. In addition, transactions of this nature, in the absence of regulatory oversight, could negatively impact the safety and integrity of the National Payment System.
With the tourism sector getting ready to welcome the return of international visitors on June 15, one of the Caribbean and Jamaica’s biggest attractions says it is far advanced in regard to health and safety protocols, as it relates to the coronavirus (COVID-19).
Chukka Caribbean Adventures in St. Ann, with more than 800 employees locally and 1,000 more at locations across the Caribbean, told JIS News that it has instituted a programme – dubbed ‘Chukka Checked’ – which is designed to ensure the well-being of its team members and guests “throughout our nature adventure experiences”.
“On our water-based tours, all water equipment will be sanitised before and after every use. Also, no footware will be allowed on board and all boats/vessels will be sanitised after every activity,” explained Chukka’s Group Marketing Manager, Khristina Rose.
Melville said there is no doubt that the demand is there, and it “is just going to boil down to the comfort level of our guests and the regulations of the Governments in markets we operate in”.
S&P Global on Tuesday cut its sovereign long-term foreign currency credit rating on Costa Rica by one notch to B from B+ citing a deeper than expected economic contraction as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and what it describes as "mixed signals" from government over structural fiscal reforms.
In late May, then Finance Minister Rodrigo Chaves stepped down after only six months on the job. Press reports at the time said he did so over differences on state spending priorities with President Carlos Alvarado, who had asked for his resignation. Alvarado signed legislation that exempted local governments from complying with portions of the fiscal reform law that passed in 2018.
The firm now expects Costa Rica's general government deficit to rise to 9% of gross domestic product this year and remain little changed in 2021. Elections in February 2022 likely slow an fiscal adjustments until then while net general government debt-to-GDP is seen rising above 70% in 2022 and interest to revenue to average 20% over the next three years, S&P said.
S&P said it expects GDP to contract 3.6% this year due to the spending to fight the pandemic and the drop in tourism receipts. That is slightly worse than the forecast from the World Bank, released on Monday, which sees Costa Rica's economy shrinking by 3.3% this year before rebounding with 3.0% growth in 2021.
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) said Tuesday that it sold $4 billion worth of five-year bonds in US dollars after the orderbook closed with more than $5.75 billion.
IDB received orders from 117 investors with 42.2% from the Americas, 34.4% from Asia Pacific and 23.4% from Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Central banks and other official institutions bought 50.2% of the notes on offer, while commercial banks acquired 32.5%, asset managers 14.9% and pension funds and insurance companies 2.4%, the bank said.
The joint lead managers BMO, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Nomura put the coupon on the new 2025 notes at 0.625% and priced them at 99.97 to yield 0.631%, equal to 17 basis points over mid-swaps or 22.4 basis points over 0.25% US Treasury notes due 2025.
U.S consumer prices fell for a third straight month in May as demand remained subdued amid a recession caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Labor Department said on Wednesday its consumer price index dipped 0.1% last month after plunging 0.8% in April, which was the largest decline since December 2008. In the 12 months through May, the CPI gained 0.1% after climbing 0.3% in April.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the CPI unchanged in May and gaining 0.2% year-on-year.
