• The European Commission is set to include Panama, the Bahamas, Mauritius and nine other countries to its list of states that pose a financial risks to the bloc because of anti-money laundering and terrorism financing shortfalls.
• The document, expected to be published on Thursday, also includes Barbados, Botswana, Cambodia, Ghana, Jamaica, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nicaragua and Zimbabwe to the EU listing.
• Countries on the list “pose significant threats to the financial system of the Union,” the draft document, which is still subject to changes, says.
• Under EU law, banks and other financial and tax firms are obliged to scrutinize more closely their clients who have dealings with countries on the list.

(Source: Reuters)

• Chile said it raised $2 billion in a two-part bond sale on Tuesday, raising money to fund part of its emergency relief efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
• The sovereign, in a statement, said it sold $1.458 billion in new 2031 notes and added €500 million ($542 million) to its 1.625% 2025 euro-denominated bonds with order books that were "well supported".
• According to the government and market sources, the new long 10-year notes priced at 99.958 with a coupon of 2.45% to yield 2.454% or 180 basis points over benchmark US Treasuries. The order book, with 250 investors, reached $8.2 billion, more than 5.7 times what was sold.
• Chile's Finance Ministry said, the government will use the money to fund programs to support the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. The government has announced a series of measures designed to lessen the economic impact of the coronavirus, including a $3 billion guarantee fund for small businesses.

 (Source: Latin Finance)

• Oil prices fell on Wednesday, ending a multi-day streak of gains, as investors focused on oversupply risks after U.S. crude inventories rose more than expected amid a slump in demand caused by restrictions to halt the coronavirus spread.
• U.S West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell as much as 2.1% to $24.05 a barrel and were down 14 cents at $24.41 a barrel at 0201 GMT. WTI has snapped a five-day winning streak. Brent crude futures were flat at $30.97 a barrel.
• Oil prices had gained recently as European and Asian countries had ended their lockdowns to halt the coronavirus spread and as producers had axed supply after the demand crunch.

(Source: CNBC)

• The U.S. goods trade deficit widened in March as declining exports offset a shrinking import bill, suggesting the novel coronavirus outbreak was upending the global flow of goods and services.
• The Commerce Department said on Tuesday the trade deficit increased to $44.4 billion from a revised $39.8 billion in February. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the trade gap increasing to $44.0 billion in March from the previously reported $39.9 billion in February.

 (Source: Reuters)

• The economic shock of the coronavirus pandemic will increase political risks in Jamaica as rising unemployment and limited government spending could spark unrest among an austerity-weary population.
• Fitch, expects the domestic outbreak of Covid-19 to delay parliamentary elections, which had been expected to take place in H120, for several months.
• The research firm has revised down Jamaica’s score in its Short-Term Political Risk Index (STPRI) to 68.8 out of 100, from 70.0 previously, reflecting higher social stability risks.

 (Source; Fitch)

• For the year ended December 31, 2019, Productive Business Solutions (PBS) Limited reported audited net profit of US$2.09Mn (EPS: US$1.46), which represents a 1456.0% (or US$1.95Mn) increase in net profit relative to the previous year.
• This performance was driven by a 6.2% (or US$4.02Mn) decline in selling, general and administrative expenses as well as a 17.9% (or US$1.64Mn) decline in finance costs year-over-year.
• Since the start of the year, PBS stock price has risen 18.5%, closing Monday’s trading session at US$0.77. At this price, the company trades at a P/E of 52.7x earnings, which is above the $USD Stock Market Average of 24.6x.

 (Source: PBS’s Financials)

• A number of measures announced by the Venezuelan government, including new price controls, suggest that the partial economic liberalisation seen in the country in recent months has come to an end.
• The new measures, intended to address shortages amid the Covid-19 outbreak, are unlikely to be effective, and reinforce our view that Venezuela will not return to strong long term growth while the current government remains in power.
• Risks to social stability will likely continue to rise in the weeks ahead, as shortages and a rising Covid-19 case total are likely to weigh heavily on living conditions in the country.

 (Source: Fitch)

• Barbados will experience a fiscal deficit in FY2020/21 as the economic impacts of Covid-19 hinder revenue growth and elevate spending.
• Travel restrictions will reduce revenues, while the government response to the coronavirus pandemic will push expenditures higher.
• Fitch has revised down its fiscal forecast to a deficit of 1.3% of GDP from a surplus of 2.5% of GDP, with risks weighted to the downside.

 (Source: Fitch)

• The U.S. Treasury Department on Monday said it plans to borrow nearly $3 trillion in the second quarter of 2020 - more than five times larger than the previous record - as the federal government spends at a frantic pace to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus on the U.S. economy.
• Monday’s estimate is $3.055 trillion more than the original target for the quarter issued in early February, when it was still unclear whether the coronavirus would spread widely in the United States.
• At that time, it appeared as though the federal government would pay down $56 billion of debt in the current quarter, leading Treasury to forecast a negative estimate for new net marketable debt in the period.

 (Source: Reuters)

• U.S manufacturing activity plunged to an 11-year low in April as the novel coronavirus wreaked havoc on supply chains, suggesting the economy was sinking deeper into recession.
• The survey from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) on Friday added to a raft of grim data this week, including a collapse in consumer spending in March and a surge to 30.3 million in the number of Americans who have filed claims for unemployment benefits in the last six weeks.
• The ISM said its index of national factory activity dropped to a reading of 41.5 last month, the lowest level since April 2009, from 49.1 in March. The monthly decline in the ISM index was the biggest since October 2008. A reading below 50 indicates contraction in the manufacturing sector, which accounts for 11% of the U.S. economy.

 (Source: Reuters)