• Brazil's central bank is aiming for inflation in 2023 "around" the 3.25% target but less than 4%, its chief, Roberto Campos Neto, said on June 23^rd, as policymakers hike interest rates to cool surging consumer prices in Latin America's largest economy. 
• The Central Bank raised its key interest rate to 13.25% last week and penciled in another hike for August, as a measure to ensure inflation next year converged "around the target" rather than "to its target." 
• Campos Neto also reiterated the central bank's guidance that interest rates would rise and stay in significantly contractionary territory for longer to fight inflation. Consumer prices grew at an 11.7% rate in the 12 months through May, as such the strategy is necessary because of the uncertainty marking Brazil's inflation path. 
• Despite government proposals to lower fuel prices, Campos Neto said policymakers have not seen a relevant change in the balance of risks for inflation, which he indicated were still not tilted to the upside. However, on a more positive note, the central bank lifted its economic growth outlook for 2022 to 1.7% from 1%, on the back of a stronger-than-expected performance in the first quarter.

(Source: Reuters)

• U.K. inflation hit 9.1% year-on-year in May as soaring food and energy prices continue to deepen the country’s cost-of-living crisis. The 9.1% rise in the consumer price index, released on June 22, 2022, was in line with expectations from economists in a Reuters poll and slightly higher than the 9% increase recorded in April. 
• Consumer prices rose by 0.7% month-on-month in May, slightly above expectations for a 0.6% rise but well short of the 2.5% monthly increase in April, indicating that inflation is slowing somewhat. 
• The largest upward contributions to the inflation rate came from housing and household services, primarily electricity, gas, and other fuels, along with transport (mostly motor fuel and second-hand cars). The Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH) came in at 7.9% in the 12 months to May, up from 7.8% in April. “Rising prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages, compared with falls a year ago, resulted in the largest upward contribution to the change in both the CPIH and CPI 12-month inflation rates between April and May 2022 (0.17 percentage points for CPIH),” the ONS said in its report. 
• The Bank of England last week implemented a fifth consecutive hike to interest rates, though stopped short of the aggressive hikes seen in the U.S. and Switzerland, as it looks to tame inflation, without compounding the current economic slowdown.

(Source: CNBC)

• Ukraine became a candidate to join the European Union on Thursday, a bold geopolitical step triggered by Russia's invasion that Kyiv and Brussels hailed as an "historic moment". 
• Starting on the long path to EU membership will be a huge boost to morale in the embattled country, as Russian assaults on two cities in the eastern Donbas region move toward a "fearsome climax", according to a Ukrainian government adviser. 
• "Ukraine's future is in the EU," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on Twitter after the official announcement. 
• "A historic moment," European Council chief Charles Michel tweeted, adding: "Our future is together." 
• The approval of the Kyiv government's application by EU leaders meeting in Brussels will anger Russia as it struggles to impose its will on Ukraine. Moldova also became an official candidate on Thursday, signalling the bloc's intention to reach deep into the former Soviet Union. 
• Diplomats say it will take Ukraine a decade or more to meet the criteria for joining the EU. But European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she was convinced that Ukraine and Moldova will move as swiftly as possible to implement necessary reforms. 
• Their move to join the EU runs alongside applications by Sweden and Finland to enter NATO in the wake of the Russian invasion - indications that the Kremlin's military actions have backfired on its geopolitical aims.

(Source: Reuters)

• A new zone for tourism development is being created from Oracabessa, St. Mary to Port Antonio, Portland, which will cater to high-end visitors to the island. 
• Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, said the zone will bring a “new awakening” to the country’s north coast and will follow a village-type tourism model with sophisticated facilities as opposed to an all-inclusive enclave setting. 
• Speaking at a welcome ceremony for the first scheduled commercial flight to the Ian Fleming International Airport in St. Mary from Providenciales, Turks and Caicos, on Thursday, June 16, Mr. Bartlett added that “the presence of this third international airport gives Jamaica the unique position in the region of being able to be connected within an hour from any point of entry into the country”. 
• This new tourism development adds to the Port Antonio redevelopment programme, which is also expected to breathe new life into the area. Owing to the aforementioned, the Ministry will be marketing the area differently and is already insisting that multi-storey buildings and high-density investment will not be allowed in the zone.

(Source: JIS News)

• A new company has been awarded the rights to explore for oil and gas in the territorial waters of Barbados. Acting Prime Minister Santia Bradshaw announced on Monday (June 20) that her Government had approved Woodside Energy to take over the work started by global resources company, BHP Group (BHP) after the merger between BHP and the then Woodside Petroleum. 
• As far back as 2007, the then Government of Barbados formally launched the Barbados Offshore Petroleum Programme as part of its strategy to promote the island’s oil and gas potential and attract investment. Under this programme, Barbados subdivided its offshore acreage into 26 license blocks and developed a suite of legislation – the Barbados Offshore Petroleum Legislation – to govern all exploration, production, and development activities offshore. 
• The Ministry of Energy and Business aims to continue to license Barbados’ Offshore acreage under clear rules for developers and to increase the cultivation of data relating to the geological and geophysical conditions of the oil and gas sector. Owing to the importance of this sector in any economy, once fruitful, the country is expected to reap the benefits through increased employment, a new revenue income stream, foreign direct investment, and economic growth.

(Sources: Barbados Today & NCBCM Research)

• U.S. President Joe Biden on June 22, 2022, called on Congress to pass a three-month suspension of the federal gasoline tax to help combat record pump prices and provide temporary relief for American families this summer. The president also urged states to temporarily suspend state fuel taxes, which are often higher than federal rates, the official said. 
• He will also be challenging major oil companies to bring ideas on how to bring back idled refining capacity when they meet with his energy secretary on June 23, 2022. 
• Biden and his advisers have been discussing the issue for months amid increasing pressure to act as record-high gas prices weigh down the president's poll ratings and cast a dark cloud over Democrats' chances of retaining congressional power in November's elections. A suspension of the 18.4 cents per gallon federal gasoline tax and 24.4 cents diesel tax would require congressional approval, likely making Biden's pitch largely symbolic. 
• Lawmakers in both parties have expressed resistance to suspending the tax, with some Democrats, including House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, worried the move could have a limited effect on prices if oil companies and retailers pocket much of the savings. Biden asked Congress to suspend the fuel tax through September, a move that will cost the Highway Trust Fund roughly $10Bn in foregone revenue but could be made up from other areas of a budget that will experience revenue growth in the coming months.

(Source: Reuters)

• Russia's consumer price index (CPI) fell 0.12% in the week to June 17, down for a third week in a row after a massive spike in March, providing the central bank with more room to cut rates to limit the economic downturn this year, data showed on June 22, 2022. So far this year, consumer prices in Russia rose 11.51%, data from the federal statistics service Rosstat showed. 
• Capped by a rapid recovery in the rouble and a drop in consumer demand, annual inflation has been slowing recently, and, in weekly terms, the CPI index declined 0.14% in the preceding week. Russia recorded its first weekly deflation in May for the first time since August 2021 after weekly inflation spiked to 2.22% in early March following the beginning of what Russia calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine on Feb. 24. 
• Inflation is slowing even after the central bank cut its key interest rate to the pre-crisis level of 9.5% earlier in June and kept the door open to further easing, noting uncertainty related to external risks such as the Western embargo on Russian oil. Prices on nearly everything, from vegetables and sugar to clothes and smartphones, have risen sharply since Feb. 24 as Russia encountered logistics disruptions and increased volatility in the rouble.

(Source: Reuters)

• The Bank of Jamaica Governor, Richard Byles, during the panel discussion on digital and cryptocurrency, at the 2022 Jamaica 60 Diaspora Conference on Wednesday (June 15) announced that persons with Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) accounts will be able to use them to receive remittances from overseas. 
• He also noted that while individuals sending funds would have to do so using existing arrangements at their respective locations when the money gets here “it can go through JAM-DEX immediately to the beneficiary”. Additionally, visitors to Jamaica who may wish to conduct transactions using CBDC will be accommodated. 
• It is anticipated that this will make the system of transfer even more seamless and immediate. Although there’s a bit of work to be done to get that to happen, the Governor noted that this is where technology and banking laws are eventually going to allow us to go. A more efficient process of remittance transfer should help to boost remittance inflows in the future. 
• The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) is looking to commence the national rollout of JAM-DEX at the end of June. BOJ’s Director for Payment Systems and Policy, Mario Griffiths, said the Bank is proceeding with the sole qualified financial institution onboarded to issue digital wallets, which are required to access CBDC – National Commercial Bank (NCB). NCB offers JAM-DEX through Lynk, its digital wallet through which persons will be able to complete transactions with another Lynk wallet holder using JAM-DEX at a date to be advised by NCB. 

(Sources: JIS News & NCBCM Research)

• Potential investors/developers who decide to operate within the proposed Caymanas Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in St. Catherine will enjoy tax-free benefits for an extended period. This was disclosed by the Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Senator the Hon. Aubyn Hill to global investor delegates/participants from the World Free Zones Organization’s Annual International Conference and Exhibition (AICE), 2022, being held in Montego Bay from June 13 to 17. 
• Several years ago the World Bank sponsored a feasibility study of this project and concluded that it will be suited for warehousing and logistics, ICT, BPO, robotics, artificial intelligence, furniture, paper products, plastics, repair services, pharmaceuticals, among other such activities. 
• The Government is looking to attract interest in the development of the 650-acre property as it seeks to get the Caymanas SEZ project started. Businesses operating within the zone will get 50 years tax-free benefit and land for lease. Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, has mandated the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) to get the project started. 
• Senator Hill further informed that the Government will be investing between $40Mn and $60Mn in the property to put in place the necessary utilities, including water and it will also have broadband access. Investors/developers who wish to develop the property will have a negotiated period within which it must be developed. 
• Special economic zones are expected to facilitate rapid economic growth in the country by leveraging tax incentives as a way of attracting foreign investments and technological advancement.

(Source: JIS News)

• The rising energy prices have prompted Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne to call out the United States’ trade embargo on Venezuela, saying that the sanctions on Venezuela are also hurting other nations in the Caribbean region. 
• Furthermore, in a bid to curb the rising price of oil, Browne called on the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to talk to Caracas. Browne believes that the PetroCaribe initiative that Venezuela had since 2005 could be vital for the region to survive the soaring prices of oil. 
• The PetroCaribe energy initiative allows Venezuela to supply crude oil to countries in the Caribbean region at a much cheaper price relative to the current world price of oil in the first 90 days. Countries may pay the remaining price rate for 25 years, with an interest rate of 1% every year. The cost may also be offset through the trading of goods or services. 
• Loosening restrictions on Venezuela would benefit the region greatly by facilitating the trading of crude oil at a cheaper price and shoring up supply, which could help to alleviate the inflation pressures being faced by the Caribbean.

(Source: Caribbean News Now)