• Guyana President, Irfaan Ali, wants Venezuela to know that his country will not tolerate what he described as the latter's "unlawful and unfounded claims to more than two-thirds" of its territory. He said Venezuela continues to undermine Guyana's territorial integrity, and warned the move has the potential to incite violence and threaten peace in the Caribbean.
• In a statement on Monday, Ali said his government had taken "careful note" of five questions issued by Venezuela's National Electoral Council, which are to be asked in the December 3^rd national referendum.
• Among those questions, he said, is one that "brazenly seeks the approval of the Venezuelan people of the creation of a new Venezuelan State consisting of Guyana’s Essequibo region, which would be incorporated into the national territory of Venezuela, and the granting of Venezuelan citizenship to the population."
• Ali said that this represents "nothing less" than an annexation of Guyana's territory and it is in "blatant violation of the most fundamental rules of the UN Charter, the OAS Charter and general international law.
• "Such a seizure of Guyana’s territory would constitute the international crime of aggression." He added, "The Government of Guyana categorically rejects any attempt to undermine the territorial integrity of the sovereign State of Guyana."
• Ali noted the idea that the Essequibo region should be "created" into a state with Venezuela is abhorrent. "Further, the government rejects the internationally unlawful act to put forward the ‘granting of citizenship and Venezuelan identity cards in accordance with the Geneva Agreement and international law.'" He also reiterated that no government or person has the right in international law to seize, annexe or take the territory of another country.
• In a statement in direct response to Ali, the Venezuelan government remarked that Ali's comments were offensive. It said his statement was "loaded with profound contempt for the Venezuelan people, its Bolivarian history and its right to express itself democratically, on matters of special national importance.
• "Venezuela insists on urging the Guyanese government to desist from its actions, both unilateral and subordinate to transnational capital and to seriously assume direct negotiations that will allow for a practical and mutually acceptable agreement between the parties, to resolve the territorial controversy, as was agreed to with the UK of Great Britain just before the birth of Guyana as an independent nation.", the statement also noted.

(Source: Trinidad and Tobago Newsday)

• Caribbean water utilities will be able to exchange real-time data on parts and materials through a pilot version of an innovative data-sharing platform launched by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). This will allow the participating utilities within this virtual community to expedite mutual aid and ultimately cut costs.
• Seven utilities from across the Caribbean, including the National Water Commission (NWC) in Jamaica, are participating in the data-sharing platform.
• Through Source of Innovation, the IDB has partnered with H2bid, Inc. to provide a one-year pilot version of this groundbreaking platform which is powered by AURSI. The H2bid/AURSI platform is a unique virtual community with a network effect that connects utilities across various sectors, including water, wastewater, gas, and electricity.
• The initiative aims to assist Caribbean water utilities by providing access to replacement parts, promoting the discovery of new technologies, sharing technical information, encouraging best practices exchange, and reducing waste through surplus item redistribution.
• This innovative pilot platform streamlines collaboration among Caribbean water utilities, helping them recover from climate-related disasters and address current supply chain challenges by expediting mutual aid during emergencies to restore service quickly.
• Users will have the opportunity to connect with their peers from other participating utilities through the virtual community. During the pilot phase, the IDB and participating utilities will explore the feasibility of expanding the pilot version to include a pooled procurement programme — a proven method for saving costs through bulk purchases.
• Representatives from the Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association, Caribbean Water & Sewerage Association, and Caribbean Development Bank actively participated in the pilot platform launch event, expressing their organisations' support for the virtual community and their strong desire to see it expand to include more Caribbean water utilities.

(Source: CariCris)

• The interest rate on the most popular U.S. home loan last week jumped to the highest since September 2000, marking its seventh straight weekly increase and driving mortgage applications to a 28-year low, a survey showed on Wednesday.
• The 7.9% average contract rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage during the week ended Oct. 20 was up 20 basis points from the prior week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.
• "Mortgage activity continued to stall, with applications dipping to the slowest weekly pace since 1995," MBA vice president and deputy chief economist Joel Kan said. "These higher mortgage rates are keeping prospective homebuyers out of the market and continue to suppress refinance activity."
• The cost of borrowing to buy a house has risen even as the Federal Reserve has put its inflation-fighting rate-hike campaign on pause, after lifting its benchmark policy rate from near zero in March 2022 to 5.25-5.50% in July of this year.
• The 30-year fixed rate mortgage is up 81 basis points since then, tracking a similar rise in the yield on the 10-year Treasury note, the main benchmark for longer-term U.S. borrowing rates.

(Source: Reuters)

• Barclays PLC is laying off dozens of staff in its U.S. consumer banking division as part of a global drive to cut costs, according to a source familiar with the situation.
• The redundancies account for about 3% of employees in the bank's U.S. consumer division, said the source, who declined to be identified discussing personnel matters. The staff were informed earlier this week, the person said. "We review our business on a regular basis to ensure we are operating as effectively and efficiently as possible," a spokesperson for Barclays said in a statement. "These decisions are never easy and employees whose roles have been impacted will receive a full range of transition services."
• Barclays on Tuesday said it would embark on a fresh round of restructuring in the coming months, as it looks to reduce costs and drive efficiencies across the bank in a bid to lift profits. The bank's shares nonetheless slid 6% on Tuesday as long-suffering investors in the British bank digested its downbeat outlook for its home market.
• Chief Executive C.S. Venkatakrishnan said the lender will update investors on the areas impacted when Barclays reports full-year results in February.
• The bank is already drawing up plans to cut hundreds of jobs in its domestic retail bank and cut staff in its investment bank, Reuters reported last month. Barclays' consumer, cards and payments business, which houses the U.S. division impacted by the latest job cuts, has been a source of strength for the bank in recent quarters as growth in credit card balances from its $3.8 billion acquisition of retailer Gap Inc's portfolio lifted revenues.
• The outlook for the business looks murkier now, however, with the bank warning on Tuesday that higher unemployment expectations in the U.S. could lead to customers missing payments

(Source: Reuters)

• LASCO Microfinance Limited, a subsidiary of LASCO Financial Services Limited, received approval of its application for licensing of its institution to operate as a microcredit institution, according to section 10 (3) (a) of the Microcredit Act, 2021, from the Bank of Jamaica.
• The Microcredit Act (‘the Act’) was passed in January 2021, with the aim of licensing and regulating microcredit institutions (MCIs) that provide financing to individuals as well as, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.
• This brings the total number of licensed microcredit institutions to 21, of which 3 are listed companies on the JSE.
• This means that LASF through its subsidiary is authorized to continue its operations in lending to micro, small and medium-sized businesses and to individuals as defined under the Microcredit Act. Further, over time given the competitive nature of the microcredit financing market, these requirements will not only help to regulate the industry but also reduce exorbitant charges, which bodes well for customers.

(Source: JSE)

• GK Capital Management Limited, Lead Broker, has advised that the Additional Public Offering of ordinary shares in the capital of 138 Student Living Jamaica Limited was closed on October 23, 2023.
• The company is now preparing to move forward with using the funds raised to reduce a portion of its $4.2Bn debt stock. This will reduce its interest expenses, improve the bottom line and allow the company to consistently pay dividends to its shareholders.
• 138 Student Living offers long-term student accommodation in 1,464 rooms and short-term accommodation in 72 rooms at four locations on the UWI Mona Campus, under two Concession Agreements.

(Source: JSE)

• Suriname offered to swap $675 million of dollar bonds for new notes, including those linked to oil royalties, as the South American nation wraps up the final steps of its debt restructuring.
• The government invited investors of debt due in 2023 and 2026 to exchange their holdings for new 10-year bonds with a 7.95% interest rate, according to a Monday statement.
• Suriname will also issue notes that pay out after the government receives at least $100 million of oil royalties from an offshore reserve known as Block 58. Once that revenue threshold is reached, officials will allocate 30% of annual royalties to make payments on the instrument until it matures in 2050.
• This is the latest step in a restructuring process that’s been watched as a potential blueprint for other commodity-producing nations trapped in painful and protracted defaults.
• A committee of bondholders said they backed the deal, which will help the nation clear its default. The new security, dubbed a value recovery instrument, “is structured to ensure that Suriname will benefit from a significant majority of anticipated oil production proceeds while enabling noteholders to receive adequate repayment of their claims in a timely manner,” the group wrote in an email statement.
• The committee includes Franklin Templeton Investment Management, Eaton Vance Management, Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co., Greylock Capital Management and T. Rowe Price Associates. Its members collectively hold more than the 75% threshold in each of the notes to trigger the collective action clauses and apply the restructuring terms to all outstanding notes, they said.
• Suriname has lingered in default for more than three years before striking an agreement with creditors in May. Its dollar bonds have surged 21% this year, among the top performers in emerging markets.

(Source: Bloomberg)

• Colombia's central bank board will keep its interest rate stable at its meeting next week, a Reuters poll forecast on Monday, amid uncertainty over the impact of the El Nino weather phenomena on inflation and gasoline price pressures.
• Eighteen of 25 analysts surveyed said the bank would keep the benchmark interest rate at 13.25%, which is its highest point in 24 years and where it has remained since May.
• Two analysts predicted a 25 basis point and five others projected a 50-point cut at the Oct. 31 meeting. A majority of analysts in last month's survey had projected the first rate cut would take place in October. Whatever the decision, it will be by majority, like the vote seen in September, analysts said.
• High inflation will limit the possibility of action by the central bank, BBVA said in a note, adding inflationary risks include "a larger-than-anticipated effect of the El Nino phenomena, a stronger shock in energy prices and an important increase in the minimum wage."
• A minority of those polled said economic deceleration coupled with the downward tendency of inflation would give the board enough space to begin its cutting cycle now. Colombia's inflation rate eased to 10.99% in September from 11.3% in August, though it remains more than three times the target rate of 3%.
• On the other hand, Finance Minister Ricardo Bonilla - who represents the government on the board - told Reuters this month he is eyeing two rate cuts, in October and December.

(Source: Reuters)

• The International Energy Agency predicts that global demand for oil, coal, and natural gas will peak this decade due to the popularity of electric cars and China's cooling economy.
• This peak doesn't necessarily indicate an immediate drop in fossil fuel consumption but is likely to lead to a sustained period of high emissions, which may not be in line with limiting global warming to 1.5°C.
• Oil demand is expected to reach about 102 million barrels a day by the late 2020s, with a gradual decline to 97 million barrels a day by mid-century, driven by the transition to clean energy and the rise of electric vehicles.
• The IEA's view contrasts with the forecasts of OPEC, which predicts continued oil demand growth. However, the report suggests that all fossil fuels are on track to peak before 2030, reflecting a global shift towards cleaner energy sources.

(Source: Bloomberg)

• U.S. business activity ticked higher in October while output in the eurozone took a surprise turn for the worse, surveys showed on Tuesday, underscoring the diverging path for central bankers in the two regions and fanning fears the bloc may slip into recession.
• In the United States, the manufacturing sector pulled out of a five-month contraction on a pickup in new orders, and services activity accelerated modestly amid signs of easing inflationary pressures.
• S&P Global said its flash U.S. Composite Purchasing Managers Index tracking both the manufacturing and service sectors rose to 51.0 in October - one point above the 50 level that separates expansion and contraction - from a final September reading of 50.2.
• It was the highest level since July in the latest sign the U.S. economy is withstanding the surge in interest rates spurred by the Federal Reserve's campaign to beat back inflation. Growth has persisted all year even as most economists until recently had expected the Fed's 5.25 percentage points of rate hikes since March 2022 to trigger a recession and a rise in joblessness.
• Later this week the Commerce Department will offer up its scorecard of economic activity for the third quarter, with economists polled by Reuters estimating gross domestic product growth was the swiftest in nearly two years in the period from July through September. The S&P Global survey suggests that momentum has carried over into the start of the fourth quarter.
• "Hopes of a soft landing for the U.S. economy will be encouraged by the improved situation seen in October," Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said in a statement. "The S&P Global PMI survey has been among the most downbeat economic indicators in recent months, so the upturn in U.S. output growth signalled at the start of the fourth quarter is good news."

(Source: Reuters)