• U.K businesses were suffering even before the latest lockdown, leaving many in a precarious position as they enter new restrictions with what many say is insufficient government support, a survey showed
• The findings from the British Chambers of Commerce add to pressure on Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak to extend aid to companies beyond the 9,000-pound ($12,000) one-time grants he’s offering.
• With non-essential shops and hospitality venues closed for weeks after a dismal 2020, a growing number of businesses are headed for a financial abyss.
• Four in 10 firms said their cash flow deteriorated in the fourth quarter, according to a survey in November of 6,203 businesses conducted by the lobby group. Almost 80% of hospitality firms reported a drop in sales in the period.
• Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government is counting on a mass vaccination program taking root by Easter to allow an easing of the restrictions. The latest measures to support companies add to the 280 billion pounds it has cost the Treasury to tackle the virus and bolster firms and workers through the pandemic.

(Source: Bloomberg)

• For the year ended September 30, 2020, Eppley Caribbean Property Fund reported a 50.9% (or BD$1.96Mn) year over year decline to BD$1.89Mn (EPS: $0.02) in audited net profit attributable to shareholders of its Value Fund.
• The result was driven by a BD$2.53Mn share of loss of investments accounted for using the equity method which compares to a share of profit of BD$2.95 reported in 2019.
• This outweighed the 68.9% (BD$1.39Mn) rise in fair value gains on investment property, 63.6% (BD$1.14Mn) increase in net rental income, and 18.6% (BD$0.58Mn) drop in operating expenditure.
• The company’s stock price has increased by 0.6% since the start of the year, closing Tuesday’s trading session at $43.43. At this price, the stock currently trades at a P/E of 30.6x earnings, which is above the Main Market Real Estate Sector Average of 18.0x.

(Source: CPFV Financials)

• Brazil's relatively rapid economic rebound is likely to decelerate over the coming quarters as the government reduces stimulus spending.
• Fitch Solutions revised its forecast for real GDP growth to -4.7% in 2020 and 3.5% in 2021, from -5.3% and 3.2% previously, following a stronger than expected rebound in Q3 2020.
• However, a weak outlook for structural reforms suggests that investment will remain weak over the coming quarters, limiting Brazil’s medium-term growth potential.

(Source: Fitch Solutions)

• The Banco de la República (BanRep) will extend its accommodative monetary policy stance in Colombia in the coming quarters to boost the country’s economic recovery and increase domestic liquidity.
• Anchored inflation, a negative output gap, and a dovish US Federal Reserve will support the central bank's policy direction, which will remain unchanged despite Leonardo Villar's appointment to succeed Governor Juan José Echavarría in January 2021.
• The agency forecasts that BanRep will maintain its policy interest rate at 1.75% in 2021, and that inflation will average 2.7% y-o-y in 2021, from an estimated 2.6% in 2020.

(Source: Fitch Solutions)

• The European Union and China agreed on Wednesday to an investment deal that will give European companies greater access to Chinese markets and help redress what Europe sees as unbalanced economic ties.
• The agreement has been nearly seven years in the making and is likely to take at least another year to enter into force. It forms part of a new relationship with China, which the EU views as both a partner and a systemic rival.
• European firms will gain permission to operate in China in sectors including electric cars, private hospitals, real estate, advertising, the maritime industry, telecom cloud services, airline reservation systems, and ground handling.
• Some requirements that companies operate as part of joint ventures with Chinese partners will be lifted.

(Source: Reuters)

• Britain on Wednesday became the first country in the world to approve a coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, hoping that rapid action would help it stem a surge of infections driven by a highly contagious variant of the virus.
• Boris Johnson’s government, which has already ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine, has jumped ahead of other Western countries with its vaccination program.
• It was the first to approve a shot developed by Pfizer of the United States and Germany’s BioNTech, with the result that hundreds of thousands of people were vaccinated in Britain before European Union countries and the United States even began administering it this month

Source: (Reuters)

• The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) stated that the inflation rate for November 2020 was 0.6% primarily due to an increase of 1.7% in the heavily weighted ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ division.
• There was a 1.8% rise in the index for the ‘Food’ group, mainly influenced by higher prices for agricultural products such as carrot, cabbage, tomato and sweet pepper as a result of reduced supplies caused by adverse weather conditions.
• For the review period, the calendar year-to-date inflation rate was 5.0%, and the fiscal year-to-date was 3.7% as at November 2020. The point- to-point rate was 4.3% which was at the lower bound of theBOJ’s target range.

(Source: STATIN)

• Fitch Solutions expects Trinidad & Tobago’s (T&T) economy will grow 4.8% y-o-y in 2021 after declining 6.9% in 2020, driven by private consumption and rebounding energy sector exports.
• The agency has revised its 2021 real GDP forecast up from 4.4% y-o-y previously, to reflect a stronger outlook for global energy demand as COVID-19 vaccine distributions support a global economic recovery.
• However, fiscal consolidation and weak investment prospects will slow the pace of recovery, and the economy will reach pre-pandemic levels only in 2023.

(Source: Fitch Solutions)

• Fitch Solutions forecasts Brazil's overall government fiscal deficit will narrow to 9.7% of GDP in 2021, from a historic 18.8% in 2020.
• While revenues will rebound and expenditures will most likely fall as stimulus measures are reduced, the lack of a budget for 2021 leaves significant uncertainty over government spending.
• Together with waning momentum towards enacting structural fiscal reforms, investors will likely remain cautious towards Brazil, limiting the benefits it sees from improving global risk sentiment.

(Source: Fitch Solutions)

• Britain and the European Union remained divided over competition and fishing on Wednesday as they tried to clinch a Brexit trade deal in time to avoid a turbulent split at the end of the year.
• Ireland said a deal was still possible before Britain leaves the EU's orbit on Dec. 31, 11 months after it formally quit the bloc and entered a transition period keeping it in the bloc's customs union and single market until the year ends.
• But with a dizzying array of conflicting signals coming from the two sides, Britain has not yet managed to agree on a deal that would ease the pain of its departure by keeping in place zero-tariff and zero-quota access to the single market.
• Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin said the gap on how much fish EU boats could catch in British waters was still wide, but that he believed there should be a deal given the economic shock that failure would trigger.

(Source: Reuters)