• Jamaica has made significant strides in positioning its spice industry, particularly ginger, turmeric and pimento, on the global stage. Through the five-year United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food for Progress Jamaica Spices Project, which began in 2022, key milestones have already been achieved, laying the groundwork for the future of the country’s spice sector.
• Speaking at a Jamaica Information Service (JIS) Think Tank, on October 9, Chief of Party, USDA Food for Progress Jamaica Spices Project, Dr. Ronald Blake, said that six foundational studies along with research with key partners were conducted during the first year of the Project, providing critical empirical data.
• “For the first time, we have empirical evidence that shows that a particular Jamaican product is the best in the world,” said Dr. Blake, noting that a test was conducted on the Jamaican ginger by Rutgers’ Food Innovation Center, one of the world’s leading research institutions.
• Dr. Blake further noted that the foundational studies conducted identified gaps in the spices sector and outlined necessary interventions that would be required to strengthen its international presence.
• The USDA Food for Progress Jamaica Spices Project has, so far, put 157 acres of new production (ginger, turmeric, and pimento) on the ground, using clean planting material. The project has also fostered crucial linkages among producers, processors, and exporters, laying the foundation for expanded production and processing capabilities.
• “… We have also worked with some of our major agro processors in Jamaica and we have provided them with grants to upgrade their mechanisation to pull and push back on production,” said Dr. Blake.
• He informed that by doing this, agro processors will be able to transform primary production into secondary and tertiary products for both local and export markets. As the project continues, he indicated that it is now at a place where “we are ready to scale up production, scale up processing and accept new investors”.
• Ginger and turmeric, once considered simple culinary staples, are now recognised as essential inputs in the pharmaceutical industry, particularly in treatments for respiratory illnesses. “… you will never be able to look at a list of superfoods, and ginger and turmeric will not be on it… it therefore means that Jamaica has the capacity to reset its economic viability through ginger and turmeric,” Dr. Blake said.

(Source: JIS)

• Trinidadian Finance Minister, Colm Imbert, and Bernardo Requena, the director representative for CAF-Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean in Trinidad and Tobago, signed a US$35Mn investment loan.
• The loan is aimed at enhancing the services of the Export-Import Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (EXIMBANK) to better serve a broader range of clients, particularly Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), a release from the Finance Ministry stated.
• The facility is expected to benefit more than 100 SMEs in Trinidad and Tobago, providing a significant boost in financing to help grow their operations and expand into new markets, according to the Ministry of Finance.
• 'The credit facility will secure US$35Mn in additional funding to expand EXIMBANK's financial services and support to SMEs and emerging sectors and position them to better compete in local, regional and international markets. This initiative is tied to EXIMBANK's 2022-2026 Strategic Plan and focuses on increasing access to credit and innovative financial solutions for SMEs across focused sectors, including the creative industries, ICT and renewable energy,' it stated.
• 'The financing will help businesses invest in plant upgrades, digital transformation and technology deployment, as well as product quality improvements to position them for export growth and long-term sustainability,' the Finance Ministry stated.
• Speaking at the signing ceremony, Imbert said this enhanced financing option will empower businesses to innovate, compete globally and contribute to economic growth. 'This collaboration with CAF will allow the EXIMBANK to expand its support to SMEs, equipping them with the financial tools needed to grow their operations and contribute to the national economy.
• Furthermore, 'this partnership is aligned with CAF's mission to build resilient, innovative and sustainable economies across Latin America and the Caribbean through agile and flexible financing options,' Requena said.

(Source: Trinidad Express Newspaper)

• The Panama Canal’s 2024-25 cruise season officially commenced on Tuesday, October 8, 2024, and is expected to witness over 225 ship transits throughout the season. This should help to support the steady growth of Panama’s economy through tourism activities and its spillover effects.
• According to a press release, this repositioning voyage marks the beginning of over 225 expected transits through the Panama Canal during the season. Albano G. Aguilar, a specialist in market analysis and forecasting at the Office of Corporate Affairs, said that “an increase in transits is expected this fiscal year due to the continued demand for vacation experiences, which still shows no signs of slowing down.”
• “Crossing from one ocean to the other through a fast and safe route like the Panama Canal is also a great attraction for the cruise industry because of the wonder that our operation represents,” said Panama Canal Administrator Ricaurte Vásquez Morales.
• This season, major cruise lines like Norwegian, Carnival, and Royal Caribbean continue to offer full and partial Panama Canal transits, while smaller ships such as Le Bellot and National Geographic Quest are also expected. Fourteen cruise ships, including the World Explorer, Sapphire Princess and Queen Anne, will transit the canal for the first time.
• This fiscal year, 54 Neopanamax passenger ships are expected to transit the Panama Canal, including nine of the largest ever, such as the Norwegian Bliss, Joy and Encore. Inaugural transits of other Neopanamax ships, including the Sapphire Princess, Crown Princess, Queen Anne, Grand Princess and Nieuw Statendam, are also anticipated.
• During the 2022-23 season, the canal recorded 210 Panamax and 41 Neopanamax cruise transits. For the 2023-24 season (through July), 201 transits have been logged, including 42 Neopanamax vessels. The Panama Canal cruise season runs annually from October to May.

(Source: Cruise Industry News)

• The pace of price increases over the past year was higher than forecast in September, while jobless claims posted an unexpected jump following Hurricane Helene and the Boeing strike, the Labour Department reported Thursday.
• The consumer price index, a broad gauge measuring the costs of goods and services across the U.S. economy, increased a seasonally adjusted 0.2% for the month, putting the annual inflation rate at 2.4%. Both readings were 0.1 percentage points above the Dow Jones consensus.
• The annual inflation rate was 0.1 percentage points lower than August and is the lowest since February 2021. Excluding food and energy, core prices increased 0.3% in the month, putting the annual rate at 3.3%. Both core readings were also 0.1 percentage points above forecast.
• Much of the inflation increase — more than three-quarters of the move higher — came from a 0.4% jump in food prices and a 0.2% gain in shelter costs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said in the release that offset a 1.9% fall in energy prices.
• A separate report Thursday showed weekly jobless claims hitting a 14-month high, indicating potential softness in the labor market despite the big jump in nonfarm payrolls in September. However, most of the surge could be tied to the hurricane and strike. Goolsbee said the data is largely in line with Fed expectations and shouldn’t be viewed in isolation as having an outsized influence on policy.
• The jobless claims figures follow the damage from Hurricane Helene, which struck Sept. 26 and impacted a large swath of the Southeast. Florida and North Carolina, two of the hardest-hit states, posted a combined increase of 12,376, according to unadjusted data. A strike by 33,000 Boeing workers also could be hitting the numbers. Michigan had the largest gain in claims, up 9,490 on the week.

(Source: Reuters)

• Britain's economy grew in August after two consecutive months of stagnation, providing some relief to finance minister Rachel Reeves ahead of the new Labour government's first budget later this month.
• Economic output rose by 0.2% in monthly terms in August, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics that were in line with expectations in a Reuters poll of economists. "This will provide a timely boost for the chancellor amidst a backdrop of growing spending pressures," said Yael Selfin, chief economist at KPMG UK.
• All major sectors showed growth in August, the statistics office said, but weaker-than-expected growth in the dominant services sector. This was offset by a strong rebound in manufacturing and construction.
• Sterling changed a little after the figures were released, with investors continuing to bet on a quarter-point rate cut by the Bank of England in November. Compared to a year ago, economic output was 1.0% higher, below the 1.4% growth forecast by economists, a miss that reflected the downward revisions to previous months.
• Britain's economy now looks on track to grow in the second half of the year, albeit at a slower rate than in the first quarter. Last month, the Bank of England said it expected economic growth to slow to 0.3% in the third quarter and a similar rate of growth in the final three months of 2024.
• "The big question mark is the government's vision for the economy," said Barret Kupelian, chief economist at PwC. "For economic growth to continue on a sustained basis, businesses, households, and foreign investors require certainty to make choices and investment decisions."

(Source: Reuters)

• The Government of Jamaica (GOJ) announced that it secured US$480Mn in its first structured securitisation transaction in the international capital markets. The transaction involved the securitisation of the portion of the Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) revenue that is due to the GOJ.
• Securitisation of the NMIA revenue was achieved through the issuance of a US$480 million, 12-year bond in the international capital markets by Kingston Airport Revenue Finance Ltd (the “Issuer”). Kingston Airport Revenue Finance Ltd. (KingAir) is a special purpose vehicle held in trust in the Cayman Islands, whose actions are limited to the terms of its debt, and which dissolves after it repays its debt.
• The GOJ granted Kingston Airport Revenue Finance Ltd. its rights to 52.33% of the revenue generated by the Norman Manley International Airport (the “KingAir RevShare”) in exchange for the US$480Mn that was raised through the bond issue.
• The bond issuance was highly successful, with applications totalling US$2.3Bn, representing an oversubscription of over five times the US$440Mn initially sought. The offer was upsized to US$480Mn in response to this robust demand. The Notes will bear a fixed coupon of 6.75% for 12 years and are rated BB and Ba1 by Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings and Moody’s Rating Agency respectively, one notch above each Agency’s sovereign rating for Jamaica.
• Additionally, the Notes are the sole obligation of the Issuer, Kingston Airport Revenue Finance Limited, and there is no recourse to the Government of Jamaica. That is, the Notes do not represent debt obligations of the Government of Jamaica or any of its agencies.
• Kingston Airport Revenue Finance Ltd will also annually distribute to the Government of Jamaica any surplus it achieves above established benchmarks. Once the bond is repaid, the full amount of the KingAir RevShare will return to the Government of Jamaica.
• The GOJ noted that it looks forward to now being able to accelerate critical investments in domestic infrastructure, while at the same time reducing the national debt burden, even in the context of the adverse travel advisory and hurricane induced growth shock and the anticipated flat growth this year, for the benefit of all Jamaicans.

(Source: Ministry of Finance)

• Jamaica is exploring strategic partnerships with the Republic of India to improve the supply and affordability of quality pharmaceuticals locally, in an effort to reduce the cost of healthcare in the country. This was announced by Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, in a statement to the House of Representatives on Tuesday (October 8) on his recent visit to India.
• He said India is among the largest manufacturers and exporters of pharmaceuticals globally, with an industry valued more than US$50 billion. The Prime Minister further noted that India provides supplies for nearly all countries around the world.
• “Jamaica’s strategic location offers Indian businesses an ideal nearshore hub to access markets in the USA, Canada and Latin America and the Caribbean and, in return, India represents a large export market for Jamaican products like Blue Mountain coffee, aged rums and liqueurs. But the largest opportunity is tourism, and the Minister of Tourism will be visiting India in a few weeks from now… as a follow on… to get greater tourism from India to Jamaica,” the Prime Minister said.
• Dr. Holness pointed out that in the area of agriculture, discussions during his recent visit to India focused on the sharing of knowledge and best practices in critical inputs such as mechanisation.
• “The most important discussion in agriculture that we had was on affordable irrigation. India has some amazing technology in affordable irrigation, and we also discussed advanced seal technologies and expertise in crop development, agro-processing as well as investment facilitation and credit support.
• “What I particularly like about the Indian agricultural technology is that they rely heavily on using natural solutions… nature-based solutions in pest control and enhancing crop productivity, and I think Jamaica’s farmers would quickly embrace those technologies,” he said.

(Source: JIS)

• On October 8, 2024, the European Union (EU) Council removed Antigua and Barbuda from the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes. With this change, the list now consists of the following 11 jurisdictions: American Samoa, Anguilla, Fiji, Guam, Palau, Panama, Russia, Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago, US Virgin Islands, and Vanuatu.
• Antigua and Barbuda was included in the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes in October 2023 after a negative assessment from the OECD Global Forum concerning the exchange of information on request.  According to EU officials, the delisting followed “significant reforms” to Antigua and Barbuda’s tax framework. It has granted the country a supplementary review, which will be conducted in the coming months.
• Earlier this year, Antigua’s Parliament passed the Money Services Business (Transfer) Levy Act 2024, which made changes to the country’s 2002 Tax Information Exchange Act, 2007 International Foundations Act, International Trusts Act, and International Limited Liability Companies Act, the 2008 Corporate Management and Trust Service Providers Act, 2018 Tax Administration and Procedure Act and the International Business Corporations Act. The changes include the introduction of a standardized definition of “beneficial owner” and the implementation of annual attestation reports on beneficial ownership and control.
• Prime Minister Gaston Browne, in the Act’s explanatory notes, said that “the purpose of the Act is to ensure that beneficial owners are correctly identified, and that ownership information is available in all cases and is in accordance with international standard.”
• The EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes was established in December 2017 as part of the EU’s external strategy on taxation. Jurisdictions are assessed based on a set of criteria laid down by the Council, covering tax transparency, fair taxation and implementation of international standards designed to prevent tax base erosion and profit shifting in EU countries. Since 2020, the Council has updated the list twice a year, with the next revision of the list scheduled for February 2025.

(Sources: European Union & Antigua Observer)

• The Dominican government anticipates that its Fiscal Modernization Project, presented at the National Palace, will take effect starting January 1, 2025, according to Finance Minister José (Jochi) Vicente.
• The Minister of Finance announced that the project (which seeks to increase tax revenues by 1.5% of GDP) aims to improve the quality of life for Dominicans through increased tax revenue. He emphasized that if tax revenues are not raised, the government will be unable to fund essential investments needed to meet the growing demands of the population.
• As part of the reform, which has been in development for over five years, the government plans to strengthen social assistance and significantly increase minimum wages in both the public and private sectors. These measures are intended to boost the economy and enhance citizens’ living standards.
• Minister Vicente emphasized that the additional funds will positively impact public services and citizens’ quality of life, using improved garbage collection - key to reducing diseases like dengue - as an example.
• He noted that higher tax revenues would support better public infrastructure and social services. Key infrastructure projects include the metropolitan train linking the capital to Las Américas International Airport, the Santo Domingo Oeste cable car, the San Cristóbal train, and the Santiago monorail. These initiatives are expected to reduce traffic congestion, taking 1.4 million vehicles off the main roads, thus improving mobility, reducing pollution, and enhancing overall quality of life.
• The proposal, expected to be submitted to Congress this week, not only seeks to boost tax collection but also addresses tax evasion, which Vicente characterized as a crime that hinders the delivery of essential public services. The final implementation timeline will; however, depend on the legislative process.

(Source: Dominican Today)

• A "substantial majority" of U.S. Federal Reserve officials last month supported a half-point rate cut to start the turn towards easier monetary policy, but there appeared more universal agreement that the initial move would not commit the Fed to any particular pace of rate reductions in the future, minutes of the two-day policy meeting showed on Wednesday.
• The minutes provided further detail on the breadth of opinion within the Fed as policymakers approved a rate cut of a size usually reserved for moments when the central bank is worried the economy is slowing fast and needs the support of looser financial conditions. The half-point cut drew only a single dissent from Board of Governors member Michelle Bowman, but the minutes said "some" participants supported only a quarter-point cut, while "a few others indicated they could have supported such a decision."
• The minutes “paint a slightly more cautious picture” of the Fed’s approach to rate-cutting, wrote Oliver Allen, senior U.S. economist with Pantheon Macroeconomics, and “suggests that the unease about a 50 bp cut went beyond Governor Bowman.” Still, the minutes indicated that even some policymakers who may have favored an initial quarter-point cut went along with the larger one as a way to catch up with how fast inflation had fallen without putting future rate cuts “on a preset course.”
• Supporters of the half-point cut "observed that such a recalibration of the stance of monetary policy would begin to bring it into better alignment with recent indicators of inflation and the labor market," said the minutes of the Sept. 17-18 session, at which the Fed lowered the benchmark policy rate to a range of 4.75% to 5.00% from the 5.25% to 5.50% range it had maintained since July of 2023.

(Source: Reuters)