• The Bank of Japan is expected to keep interest rates steady on Thursday and warn of heightening risks to the fragile economy that could keep policy in a holding pattern, as U.S. tariffs continue to hit confidence.
• The debate may be swayed by what BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda heard in Washington last week, where the International Monetary Fund slashed its global growth forecasts and policymakers fret of further damage to their economies from U.S. trade policy.
• Speaking after a meeting with counterparts from G20 major economies, Ueda said the BOJ will continue to raise interest rates - on condition the economy sustains a moderate recovery and keeps underlying inflation on track to hit its 2% target.
• While the BOJ is set to downgrade its growth forecasts, it is expected to signal that risks from higher U.S. tariffs won't derail wages and price hikes seen as crucial for further rate increases, sources have told Reuters. But the path towards policy normalisation may take longer than previously expected as trade tensions prod big exporters, which had spear-headed pay increases up till this year, to consider slowing or interrupting hikes next year.
• "The balance of risks is on the downside for growth and for inflation," as the tariff-induced uncertainty could discourage firms from sustaining bumper pay hikes in next year's wage talks, a senior IMF official said, projecting the BOJ to push back the timing of further rate hikes.
• At the two-day meeting ending on Thursday, the BOJ is widely expected to keep short-term interest rates steady at 0.5%. It is also seen pushing back the timing for durably hitting its 2% inflation target in a quarterly report, from around the latter half of fiscal 2025 in current projections made in January.

(Source: Reuters)

• Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, met with private-sector leaders on Thursday (April 24) to discuss urgent international trade-related issues, including global tariffs and the existing domestic and world economic environment. Addressing the meeting, Dr. Holness assured members of the private sector that the Government will continue to strategically engage bilateral partners on critical issues.
• “So, you would have noticed that the Government have taken a very strategic approach; we have avoided hyperbolic comments. We have been very measured in our statements, and we have sought to engage… that’s critical. Our policy is that we must always be at the table, because that’s the only way we’re going to know what is happening; and I give the private sector assurance that you will not have to suffer at the altar of ideology”
• “We saw it coming a long time ago. So I give you that commitment… we are changing. The Government is making sure that what we do is strategic and you would have seen that. There were many concerns about whether or not Jamaica would be asked to do away with Cuban doctors, and visa issues and mass deportation and all of these. We have been at the table and we have been negotiating… in our general engagement,” the Prime Minister said.
• Holness indicated that, annually, he meets with critical stakeholders in the United States. These, he said, include but are not limited to representatives of the Justice Department and the Department of Defence. Meanwhile, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon. Kamina said the Government will defend Jamaica’s interests and balance them as best as possible with the region.
• She further noted that processes exist, “not only for us to take defensive positions but proactive ones, as well, where you see opportunities”. Senator Johnson Smith indicated that other matters discussed during the meeting include – Jamaica’s geostrategic positioning, issues relating to the new tariffs that have been imposed and other changes which have been occurring globally; energy; plans in respect of reducing bureaucracy and improving productivity which are critical pillars to Jamaica’s growth agenda; diversification of market access and leveraging the access that already exists but is underutilised.

(Source: JIS)

• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has slightly upgraded its 2025 economic growth forecast for The Bahamas, projecting a 1.8% increase, up from 1.7% previously. The improvement contrasts with the global economic outlook, which has been downgraded amid growing uncertainty and turbulence in trade policies, particularly from the United States.
• The IMF’s latest World Economic Outlookhighlights that global growth is now expected to slow to 2.8% in 2025, a significant drop from the 3.3% projected in January. The report attributes the downward revision largely to the “swift escalation of trade tensions” and the “extremely high levels of policy uncertainty” stemming from recent U.S. tariff measures. These developments have created what the IMF calls “a major negative shock to growth,” not just for the U.S. economy but for global markets overall.
• While the U.S. growth outlook has been reduced to 1.8%, down nearly a full percentage point, the IMF said the Bahamas’ growth remains resilient. It also noted a slight uptick in The Bahamas’ 2026 projection, from 1.6% to 1.7%.

(Source: Eyewitness News)

• The Dominican Republic is on track to exceed 3Mn cruise passengers by the end of 2025, driven by record-breaking monthly arrivals and the expansion of key ports. According to the Central Bank, March 2025 saw a record 324,704 cruise passengers—an 18.7% increase compared to the same month in 2024.
• Economist Henri Hebrard highlighted that the country surpassed 1Mn cruise arrivals in the first quarter of 2025 for the first time in history, rising from 869,385 in Q1 2024 to 1,004,143—a 13.4% increase. Puerto Plata played a key role in this growth, contributing 99,129 additional passengers, while the newly opened Cabo Rojo port in Pedernales welcomed 20,287 cruise visitors.
• With cruise ports across the country receiving a total of 2.76Mn visitors—82.8% of them through Puerto Plata—officials anticipate that the Dominican Republic will surpass the 3Mn cruise passenger milestone by year’s end if current trends continue.

(Source: Travel Trade Caribbean)

• The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits increased marginally last week, suggesting the labour market remained resilient despite darkening clouds over the economy caused by a chaotic trade policy. On the other hand, President Donald Trump's constantly shifting tariffs position has heightened economic uncertainty, sharply eroding business and consumer confidence, which could undercut spending and lead to job losses.
• Signs of caution among businesses, evident in surveys and corporations cutting financial guidance, were reinforced by other government data on Thursday showing business spending on equipment barely rose in March. Economists expect the labour market to weaken by the second half of the year.
• "Businesses are not squeezing labour costs just yet," said Samuel Tombs, chief U.S. economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. "Job losses are coming later this year in sectors most exposed to tariffs, such as retail, transportation and manufacturing, if the current menu of tariffs is maintained."
• Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 222,000 for the week ended April 19, in line with economists' expectations. The Labour Department data included the Good Friday holiday, which was later this year compared to 2024. Claims tend to be volatile around moving holidays.
• Since his "Liberation Day" tariffs announcement early this month, Trump has delayed reciprocal duties on more than 50 trade partners by 90 days, while raising tariffs on Chinese imports to 145%. Beijing retaliated with duties of its own.

(Source: Reuters)

• The Bank of England (BoE) is taking very seriously the risk to economic growth from the upheaval in global trade, Governor Andrew Bailey said on Wednesday, two weeks before the BoE's next interest rate decision and its latest economic forecasts.
• Bailey pointed to the IMF's sharp downgrade of its forecasts for economic growth in 2025 - both globally and in the UK - which were published on Tuesday.
• "We do have to take very seriously the risk to growth," Bailey told an event organised by the Institute of International Finance when asked how much the BoE had to consider the effects of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff and trade policy. "We're currently working through that because we've got an interest rate decision coming in two weeks' time," Bailey said.
• Investors on Wednesday assigned a 100% probability to the BoE cutting rates by a quarter of a percentage point on May 8 after the next scheduled Monetary Policy Committee meeting.

(Source: Reuters)

• The Government, through the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, is testing artificial intelligence (AI) tools in schools to assist teachers with marking and administrative tasks.
• “We have AI technology that we’re testing in schools now, to have AI mark the papers so that the teachers can spend more time doing what is really important, which is interacting with our students,” said Portfolio Minister, Senator Dr. the Hon. Dana Morris Dixon.
• Morris Dixon said there are also plans to launch the Jamaica Learning Assistant, which is an AI-powered tool designed to personalise learning according to students’ individual styles, whether they prefer stories, humour, quizzes or dialogue. She noted that the technology is not a replacement for teachers but rather a support tool that enhances their ability to deliver lessons more effectively.
• “So, after you’ve imparted the lesson, they can go and they can practise, and they can find out things that they never understood in the class. They can explore it some more,” Dr. Morris Dixon said. “That is the future of education we’re working towards; one where AI helps to personalise and enrich learning for every child,” she added.
• In the meantime, the Minister pointed out that Jamaica will open its first state-of-the-art AI lab later this year. This lab is to provide a space for students and teachers to develop technology solutions for schools.
• She called for collaboration with the JTA to integrate educators into the broader AI strategy where the Government intends to further distribute more than 15,000 laptops and tablets to students, along with 600 smart boards for schools. Additionally, approximately 25,000 vouchers have been issued to teachers to subsidise the purchase of personal laptops, she noted.

(Source: JIS)

• The amount of cash Mexico received last year from its citizens abroad reached another record. At $64.7 billion, remittances remained one of that country’s primary sources of income in 2024 and just under 4% of its gross domestic product.
• However, trouble may be brewing in a horizon clouded by threats of U.S. tariffs, inflation and law enforcement pressure on Mexican immigrants, and new rules to scrutinize who wires what money to whom outside of the United States.
• Remittances fell for a second consecutive month in February, according to Banxico – Mexico’s central bank. They went to from $5.2 billion in December, to $4.66 billion in January and $4.45 billion in February. The average remittance also is down from $393 last year to $383 in the first two months of 2025.

(Source: News Nation Now)

• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) now expects economic output growth in LatAm and the Caribbean to decelerate in 2025 to 2.0% from last year's 2.4% expansion, down from a January estimate for 2.5% growth.
• "The revisions owe largely to a significant downgrade to growth in Mexico," the fund said, "reflecting weaker-than-expected activity in late 2024 and early 2025 as well as the impact of tariffs imposed by the United States, the associated uncertainty and geopolitical tensions, and a tightening of financing conditions." Mexico's economy, strongly intertwined with that of the United States, is now forecast to contract 0.3% this year from a previous 1.4% expansion as U.S. tariffs bite into exports.
• Brazil, the region's largest economy, is seen slowing to 2.0% from a January view of 2.2% GDP expansion. Argentina's 5.5% growth forecast for 2025 is an uptick from the 5% expansion seen in January. Colombia is seen growing 2.4%, Chile 2.0% and Peru 2.8%.
• For Central America the estimate is for 3.8% output growth this year, slightly slower than the 3.9% rate in 2024, while the Caribbean is seen decelerating to 4.2% in 2025 from last year's 12.1%.
• The IMF cut its view of global economic growth in 2025 to 2.8% from 3.3% in January as the U.S. lifted tariffs to the highest in a century.

(Source: Reuters)

• More work is needed to improve the sovereign debt restructuring process and help countries facing mounting debt service challenges, the chairs of a global debt roundtable said on Wednesday, as they released a new playbook to aid those efforts.
• The Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable, formally launched in late 2022 to help accelerate progress on securing debt treatment for countries in default, met Wednesday during the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
• Co-chaired by the IMF, the World Bank, and South Africa, the current chair of the Group of 20 major economies, it includes creditors, borrowing countries, private sector executives, debt experts, and financial and legal advisers. On Wednesday, the IMF announced that economic pressures from steep new U.S. tariffs will push global public debt above pandemic-era levels to nearly 100% of global GDP by the end of the decade, as slower growth and trade strain government budgets.
• The IMF's latest Fiscal Monitor projected that global public debt will grow 2.8 percentage points to 95.1% of global GDP in 2025, reaching 99.6% of global GDP by 2030. Public debt levels in low-income countries and emerging markets were already high before the COVID-19 pandemic and then rose, but have they stabilised since and look set to decline slightly or remain stable over the medium term.
• A few countries remained particularly vulnerable, and many countries face elevated debt service challenges, with high interest costs and refinancing needs crowding out spending on education, health, and infrastructure investment.
• This would require "advancing robust progress on debt transparency, debt management, and debtor/investor relations," the co-chairs wrote in their progress report. They said the new playbook released Wednesday was a "user-friendly document" that summarised the key steps, concepts and processes observed in recent sovereign debt restructurings.

(Source: Reuters)