• President of Guyana, Dr Irfaan Ali has announced that, driven by its Low-Carbon Development Strategy (LCDs) 2030, Guyana will spearhead a worldwide coalition aimed at securing funding to bolster the preservation of the Amazon Basin’s biodiversity.
• Dr Ali made the revelation at the opening ceremony of the Caribbean Investment Forum being held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, at Liliendaal, Georgetown. Dr. Ali conducted comprehensive discussions, emphasising the necessity of a collaborative approach to preserve the region’s flora and fauna.
• In 2009, Guyana became the first developing nation to introduce the LCDs. The strategy delineated a vision for the promotion of fair and sustainable development, while simultaneously safeguarding the nation’s forests, which constitute approximately 85% of its total land area.
• In the same year, Norway and Guyana agreed to collaborate to develop a model of advancement payment for forests. Guyna’s president at the time, Bharrat Jagdeo, along with Norway’s Minister of Environment and International Development, entered into an agreement which involved Norway compensating Guyana financially for its forest-climate services.
• Through this approach, Guyana successfully executed transactions worth nearly US$1Bn for the climate services rendered by its forests. Out of this amount, US$227Mn originated from the bilateral agreement with the Norwegian Government, while an additional US$750Mn resulted from the sale of ART-TREES (The REDD+ Environmental Excellence Standard) credits in 2023.
• The Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) issued 7.14 million 2021 vintage carbon credits to Guyana. ART issued TREES credits to Guyana for reducing emissions from forest loss and maintaining intact tropical forests through jurisdictional REDD+. The acronym REDD+ means "reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD), as well as restore forests and protect intact forests (+)".
• Utilizing its LCDS, Guyana has established a framework to achieve a harmonious integration of economic development and the preservation of its forests and biodiversity, while also receiving compensation for these efforts.
• “Guyana intends to take the leadership role of mobilising friends and countries with a rich biodiversity into a global coalition alliance on biodiversity, and to commence the work on creating a scalable model that would address forest and biodiversity together,” the President said.

(Source: Guyana Chronicle & NCBCM Research)

• Antigua and Barbuda’s Tourism Minister Charles Fernandez sees the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) into the regional hospitality sector as having both beneficial and detrimental effects for everyone concerned.
• Speaking at the University of the West Indies’ Five Islands Campus Caribbean AI Conference, Fernandez pointed out that AI could facilitate Antigua and Barbuda and hotels in delivering seamless service to visitors.
• “On cruise ship days, for example, at the height of the season, you have a lot of traffic. So, you have all kinds of bottlenecks. And the last thing you want is for your population to start to say, look, this is too much of a headache. This is a nuisance. And so, we lose that whole aspect of warmth and hospitality that we are known for. So you could use AI, for example, with the police to generate which are the best routes to reduce the time, for example, from the airport to the hotel,” he said at the panel titled: “Unleashing the Tourism Potential: Revolutionising Experiences through Generative AI and Technology 5.0 Innovations”.
• On the other hand, Fernandez acknowledges that while improving service with AI will enhance efficiency, it may also lead to job losses for some individuals.
• “Governments will have to be concerned. But I think there are two ways that we have to, at least at this point in time, look to manage it. The first one I will say is there have to be discussions with the unions,” he said.
• “You have to bring them on board because quite often people tend to create fear out of, pardon the word, ignorance. And so, what you got to do is bring them in and let them know that actually, yes there's a concern for job loss, that's one, but the other aspect of it is that you're opening an avenue for us to really build our capacity, because if we don’t, we're going to be left behind. Everybody else is doing it.”
• Secondly, to save jobs, Fernandez said countries will have to offer incentives for hotel owners to keep a certain amount of locals employed at their properties. He added it was important for governments across the region to get their citizens prepared for a future where AI is a part of everyday life.

 (Source: Caribbean Loop News)

• Jerome Powell, Federal Reserve Chair, said on Monday the three inflation readings over the second quarter of this year showed "more progress" was being made on bringing the pace of price increases back to the Fed's target.
• "In the second quarter, actually, we did make some more progress," Powell said at an event at the Economic Club of Washington. "We've had three better readings, and if you average them, that's a pretty good place." Inflation is edging closer to the Fed's 2% target, and policymakers are increasingly concerned about slowing the economy too much and causing a rise in the unemployment rate.
• Given what policymakers believe to be an increasingly balanced set of risks, they may well use their final comments ahead of this month's meeting to either flag that rate cuts are imminent or explain why recent data still doesn't warrant a turn to easier monetary policy.
• The betting among investors has tilted strongly towards the Fed starting rate cuts in September.  As of July 16, the CME Fed Watch Tool indicates a 91.4% probability of the Fed doing a 25 basis point cut in September up from the 70.2 % recorded the week prior (July 9). Changes to the policy statement in July could provide a strong signal that updating how inflation is described and assessing how recent data added to policymakers' confidence that the pandemic-era outbreak of inflation has subsided.

(Source: Reuters)

• China’s National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, on Monday issued an announcement that the country’s second-quarter GDP rose by 4.7% year-on-year (YoY), failing to meet expectations of a 5.1% growth, according to a Reuters poll. June retail sales also didn’t meet estimates, rising 2% compared with the 3.3% growth that was predicted.
• However, industrial production YoY growth in June, thrashed expectations at 5.3%, compared with Reuters’ estimate of 5.0%. high-tech manufacturing allocated an 8.8% increase in value added in June.
• Investment in infrastructure and manufacturing slowed on a year-to-date basis in June versus May, while real estate investment declined at the same 10.1% rate.
• The urban unemployment rate in June was unchanged from the prior month at 5.0%, the bureau said. The non-employment rate for people ages 16 to 24 who are not in school typically comes out a few days after the overall figure. The latest data available showed the youth unemployment rate remained lofty, at 14.2% in May.
• In nominal terms, GDP grew by 3.97% in the first quarter, and 4.01% in the first half of the year, according to data accessed via Wind Information. Business loans increased by n yuan in the first half of the year, slightly less than the 12.81Tn yuan recorded for the same period last year.

(Source: CNBC)

• The House of Representatives, on Tuesday (July 9), passed the Income Tax (Amendment) Act, 2024, which seeks to implement a regime to provide income tax credit to individuals who acquire and install a solar photovoltaic system at their primary place of residence.
• Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, had informed of the initiative during his 2023/24 Budget presentation. “This Bill seeks to achieve this by setting out the appropriate legal framework that would allow individuals to benefit from this income tax credit,” he added.
• "This measure forms part of a much broader goal of reducing our dependence on fossil fuels and substantially increasing the share of renewable energy in our local energy mix,” Dr. Clarke told the House. The Minister highlighted that Jamaica aims to attain a 50 percent renewable energy share in electricity generation by 2030, emphasising the crucial role of targeted fiscal policies in reaching this goal.
• The Minister said that the major components utilised in the installation of a solar photovoltaic system, such as the solar photovoltaic panels, solar inverters, and solar batteries, including lithium-ion batteries, are also exempt from the payment of General Consumption Tax (GCT). He further highlighted that the fiscal measures are proof of the Government’s commitment to achieve the target of 50% use of renewables by 2030.”
• Additionally, the Bill provides for an income tax credit, among other benefits, at a rate of 30% of the acquisition and installation costs of a solar photovoltaic system for the taxpayer's primary residence, with a cap of $4Mn. According to Clarke, this means that the maximum credit an individual will be allowed to claim is $1.2Mn.

 (Source: JIS)

• Wigton Windfarm Limited (WIG), operating as Wigton Energy, has announced that it was shortlisted in the Generation Procurement Entity’s (GPE) tender for the supply of up to 100 megawatts (MW) of electricity generation from renewables.
• The GPE is the state-led entity that approves companies installing additional grid power.
• This means that WIG’s bid for the supply of 49.83MW was one (1) of two (2) bids, which was successful in the economic evaluation phase of the tender process. It will now proceed to the technical evaluation phase prior to the final award being made to the successful bidders by the GPE.
• This reflects WIG’s strategy to expand its offerings from wind generation to also include solar energy to grow the company further.
• Additionally, if the company succeeds, it will be instrumental in achieving the country’s renewable energy target of 20% by 2030. As of May 2023, about 11% of the country's energy production came from renewable sources.

 (Sources: JSE & NCBCM Research)

• In a milestone advancement for the oil and gas industry in the region, ExxonMobil Guyana commissioned its newly arrived capping stack at the Guyana Shore Base Inc (GYSBI) in Houston, East Bank Demerara.
• This equipment is set to bolster the country’s emergency response and spill containment capabilities, marking a milestone in ExxonMobil’s commitment to safety and environmental stewardship.
• During a media event at GYSBI, President of ExxonMobil Guyana Limited, Alistair Routledge, said that this is in keeping with the company’s commitment to safety and protection of the environment.
• The Exxon official pointed out that the capping stack is a testament to ExxonMobil’s dedication to maintaining robust in-country technological capabilities.
• The newly installed capping stack is a rare and sophisticated piece of equipment, being one of only 13 in existence globally. It is designed to cap a leaking well by creating a seal, much like a bottle cap, to safely stop the flow of oil until engineers can permanently seal the well. This equipment can connect to virtually any subsea wellhead if a well’s built-in blowout protector fails, providing an additional layer of safety.
• The arrival of the capping stack is a significant milestone for Guyana, making it the only oil-producing nation in the region with such equipment readily available. This addition not only meets a condition of ExxonMobil’s Yellowtail production licence but also enhances the country’s ability to mitigate the risk of unplanned hydrocarbon releases into the environment.

(Source: Guyana Chronicle)

• Brazil's Senate Constitution and Justice Committee postponed for a week voting on a constitutional amendment proposal granting the central bank financial autonomy to allow time to draft a new consensus text. The decision followed a suggestion by Senator Jaques Wagner, the government leader in the Upper House.
• After attending a meeting with Finance Minister Fernando Haddad earlier on Wednesday, July 10, Wagner said the government agreed with granting financial autonomy to the monetary authority but did not support turning the institution into a public company, as proposed in the original draft.
• Brazil's Congress granted the central bank operational autonomy in 2021, separating the central bank governor's term from that of the country's president. Financial autonomy would give the bank additional independence from the executive.
• Since taking office in January 2023, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has expressed discomfort with working with a monetary policy chief appointed by his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro. However, Governor Roberto Campos Neto has publicly defended financial autonomy as a necessary step for the central bank to have its own budget, allowing it to improve staffing and address technological challenges.

 (Source: Reuters)

• U.S. consumer prices fell for the first time in four years in June amid cheaper gasoline and moderating rents, firmly putting disinflation back on track and drawing the Federal Reserve another step closer to cutting interest rates in September. The second straight month of benign consumer price readings reported by the Labour Department on Thursday should help to bolster confidence among officials.
• The report also showed a measure of underlying inflation, posting the smallest increase since August 2021 on a monthly basis. The consumer price index dipped 0.1% last month, the first drop since May 2020, after being unchanged in May, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said. The CPI was weighed down by a 3.8% decline in gasoline prices, which followed a 3.6% decrease in May. Shelter costs, which include rents, increased a moderate 0.2% after advancing 0.4% in May.
• Food prices rose 0.2% after edging up 0.1% in May. Grocery store prices ticked up 0.1%, with increases in dairy products, meat, fish, and eggs offset by declines in the costs of fruits and vegetables as well as cereals. In the 12 months through June, the CPI climbed 3.0%, the smallest gain since June 2023. That followed a 3.3% advance in May. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the CPI ticking up 0.1% and gaining 3.1% year-on-year.
• The broad moderation in inflation aligns with reports from retailers about consumers pushing back against higher prices. Retailers, including Target and Walmart, have cut prices on a range of goods. It was also a rare dose of good news for President Joe Biden in recent days, whose popularity has been eroded by the high cost of living.
• The annual increase in consumer prices has slowed from a peak of 9.1% in June 2022. The CPI report followed news last week that the unemployment rate rose to a 2-1/2-year high of 4.1% in June from 4.0% in May. Economic growth has also slowed in response to the central bank's hefty rate hikes in 2022 and 2023, with second-quarter gross domestic product forecast near the 1.8% annualized rate that policymakers view as the non-inflationary growth pace.

(Source: Reuters)

• Britain's economy grew more quickly than expected in May, providing some momentum for the new government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer but adding to doubts about whether the Bank of England will cut interest rates next month.
• Economic output increased by 0.4% in May, after zero growth in April, the Office for National Statistics said. A Reuters poll of economists had pointed to a 0.2% monthly increase.
• The strength of the upturn could dissuade the BoE from beginning to cut interest rates as soon as Aug. 1, its next scheduled monetary policy announcement date. Three policymakers this week emphasised the strength of domestic price pressures.
• May saw a broad-based increase in economic output, with the services, manufacturing, and construction industries all growing, and the latter grew by 1.9% in the month, driven by house-building. The figures represented an early boost for the new Labour administration, which has set itself the aim of achieving the fastest growth among the Group of Seven advanced economies on a sustained basis.
• Britain's economy appears to have snapped out of its low-growth rut, at least for now. Output has grown by 1.5% since the turn of the year, marking its best five months since early 2017, excluding the rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic.

(Source: Reuters)