• The Civil Aviation Board (JAC) announced on Tuesday, July 4, that the Dominican Republic has achieved a significant milestone in air transportation.
• Between January and May of this year, a record-breaking 7,180,905 passengers were transported to and from the country. This figure represents a remarkable 17% growth compared to the same period last year.
• José Marte Piantini, the president of the JAC, expressed his satisfaction with the progress and stated that air transport in the country has experienced rapid development since August 2020, becoming the growth leader in the region. He also mentioned that the government’s implemented policies, under the Civil Aviation Board, have played a crucial role in establishing air transport as a competitive sector. These policies include a comprehensive set of measures aimed at increasing traveller flows to and from the country.
• Piantini further revealed that the Punta Cana Airport has been the busiest, serving as a gateway for 4,069,335 passengers during the first five months of 2023. Las Américas Airport follows closely behind with 2,062,795 passengers. These two airports alone account for 83% of the total passenger traffic in and out of the country. The Cibao Airport transported 772,692 passengers, while the Puerto Plata Airport served 362,421 passengers during the same period.
• Emphasizing the commitment to improving air connectivity, Piantini mentioned the collaborative efforts of the JAC with other institutions in the sector. One notable achievement is the recent agreement signed with Cuba, enabling additional Dominican airlines to enter the Cuban market, which was previously limited to only two operators.
• The strategic approach of the JAC has resulted in the establishment of new airlines, the introduction of new routes, and the formation of new agreements. Consequently, more travellers are choosing the Dominican Republic as their preferred destination. Piantini expressed optimism, stating that the country aims to surpass the milestone of 17 million passengers transported through its airport terminals by the end of this year.

(Source: Dominican Today)

• Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines recently inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that is anticipated to increase technical collaboration in the agriculture sector.
• The Technical Cooperation Agreement cements the existing relationship between the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, Fisheries, and Cooperatives (Grenada) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, Rural Transformation, Industry & Labour (St Vincent and the Grenadines).
• “It is very important that from our level we establish and consolidate what has been happening for a long while. We have just imported over 6,000 pounds of yams from St Vincent to provide planting material for the farmers. A lot of planting material will also be coming from St Vincent and will be supplied to Grenadian farmers for the Food Security Enhancement project,” remarked Minister of State with responsibility for Agriculture and Lands, Fisheries and Cooperatives Adrian Thomas.
• The arrangement will also provide support for Grenada’s Artificial Insemination programme, which will promote a working relationship where both countries can be leaders in the export of livestock to other countries.
• The agreement will also foster a working relationship with technicians from both countries to ensure that their food import bills are reduced.

(Source: Now Grenada)

• S. consumer prices rose modestly in June and registered their smallest annual increase in more than two years as inflation continued to subside, but probably not fast enough to discourage the Federal Reserve from resuming raising interest rates later this month.
• In the 12 months through June, the CPI advanced 3.0%. That was the smallest year-on-year increase since March 2021 and followed a 4.0% rise in May. The CPI gained 0.2% last month after edging up 0.1% in May, the Labor Department said on Wednesday. The CPI was lifted by rises in gasoline prices as well as rents, which offset a decrease in the price of used motor vehicles.
• Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the CPI rising 0.3% last month and climbing 3.1% year-on-year. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, the CPI increased 0.2% in June. It was the first time in six months that the so-called core CPI did not post monthly gains of at least 0.4%. In the 12 months through June, the core CPI rose 4.8% after increasing 5.3% in May.
• Annual consumer prices have retreated sharply from their 9.1% peak in June 2022, which was the biggest increase since November 1981 as last year's large rises dropped out of the calculation. Nevertheless, inflation remains well above the Fed's 2% target, with the labour market still tight.
• Though employment gains were the smallest in 2-1/2 years in June, the unemployment rate fell close to historically low levels and wage growth was strong.
• Core inflation is expected to continue receding in the months ahead. The labor market is cooling and independent measures show rents on a downward trend. Rent measures in the CPI tend to lag the independent gauges by several months.

(Source: Yahoo Finance)

• Companies in most countries have enough profit to be able to absorb an increase in wages needed for staff to cope with high inflation, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said on Tuesday.
• Although labour markets are tight, employers have not raised wages in pace with inflation in 31 out of the 34 countries tracked in the Paris-based OECD's 2023 Employment Outlook.
• After taking inflation into account, wages have fallen 3.8% in the first quarter of 2023 from a year earlier with the drop the biggest in Hungary at 15.6%, the report said. While workers have seen high inflation erode their purchasing power, all countries in the report have seen businesses' profits grow faster than wages since the pandemic.
• "The cost of a living crisis is a cost that has to be shared between what governments can do, what companies have to do and what workers have to do," OECD head of labour policy Stefano Scarpetta told a news conference.
• "There is some room in some room in profits to accommodating some increase in wages without necessarily generating a wage-price spiral," Scarpetta added. How much wages could be raised would depend country by country and sectors would also need to be taken into account as well as profit increases were smaller at small and mid-sized firms, he said.

(Source: Reuters)

• Listed energy company FESCO has officially launched its line of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) products.
• Speaking at the launch on Thursday, FESCO’s Managing Director Jeremy Barnes said the company has been testing FESGAS in the market since April.
• The company has tripled its throughput capacity at its location by just testing the market. This month, the company will be targeting commercial customers. Currently, the company operates in Kingston and St. Andrew, St. Catherine, Clarendon, Mandeville, and parts of St. Mary through its distribution outlet in Stony Hill.
• Barnes boasted that FESCO's innovation includes the use of no-BLEVE (boiling liquid expanding vapour explosion) cylinders, which is a technology that makes it safe for apartment use.
• He further highlighted that FESCO has already captured 2.5% of the market share in the few months since it began offering LPG.
• The company’s entrance into the LPG market adds a new product line that will be a growth driver for FESCO that will ultimately bring value to its shareholders.

(Source: RJR)

• The Trinidad and Tobago-based ANSA McAL Group of Companies will be investing more than $150 million in its operations in Jamaica this year as part of the management’s strategic thrust to improve the entity’s efficiency and profitability.
• Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Anthony N. Sabga III, made the disclosure while addressing a special reception hosted by the entity for Jamaican business stakeholders on Thursday (July 6) at The Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston.
• Sagba noted that the company will invest more than $150 million in retooling Jamaican operations to drive further efficiencies and capacity expansion. He further noted that Jamaica is part of the company’s journey of achieving its ambitious target, which is to double its size and profitability by 2027, to achieve US$300 million profit annually.
• ANSA McAL Limited, which comprises 48 companies, is one of Trinidad’s largest conglomerates. Its activities encompass the automotive, beverage, construction, distribution, financial services, manufacturing, real estate, retail, media, and service sectors. The Group, which has been operating for 140 years, has business interests in eight territories in the Caribbean, Europe, and North America. In 2017, the entity completed its acquisition of Lewis Berger Overseas Holdings, a major shareholder of all three Berger paint companies in Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, and Jamaica.
• Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, who was happy to hear the announcement, noted that the planned investment has significant potential for the local manufacturing sector.
• One of the major benefits of this development will be gainful employment for more individuals which by extension, will be beneficial to the country’s employment and output figures.

(Source: JIS)

• CARICOM Heads of Government have decided on free movement for all CARICOM nationals by March of next year, going beyond the current CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) regime of free movement of agreed categories of skilled nationals.
• The decision came at the historic 45th Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government which coincided with the golden jubilee anniversary of CARICOM.
• CARICOM Chair, the Hon Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of Dominica, made the announcement on Wednesday, July 5 at a press conference at the conclusion of the meeting.
• “We have taken the decision to seek to have the free movement of all categories of people to live and work. Obviously, there are some legal issues that we have to examine, and we have given the legal people some months to examine those legal issues and to ensure that they could come to us by the 30th of March 2024 to take a definitive position on this. We understand that there are some challenges for some, but we are committed to this,” Prime Minister Skerrit said.
• Prime Minister of Barbados, the Hon. Mia Mottley, who holds responsibility for the CSME in the CARICOM Quasi Cabinet, pointed out that “out of an abundance of caution and to be sure-footed, there are some aspects of the Treaty that will require amendments, and therefore, we are giving ourselves between now and the 30th of March 2024, to make the amendments, because we recognise as well that there may have to be an approach that does not make countries liable to any form of suit with respect to some of the rights.”
• Prime Minister Mottley also indicated that Heads of Government have agreed to Haiti’s request for a derogation of the free movement agreement given the circumstances of that Member State.
• This free movement of people would in turn lead to greater job opportunities as people are now afforded the opportunity to travel and work in areas that require their skill set without legal restrictions; which by extension is anticipated to drive remittance receipts and prompt transfer of skills.

 (Source: CARICOM)

• Fitch Solutions forecast Guyana’s fiscal deficit will widen from 2.2% of GDP in 2022 to 3.0% in 2023 given the government’s planned 41.4% increase in headline expenditure over the year.
• While this suggests a slight deterioration in the market’s fiscal trajectory, Fitch notes that the projected deficit remains comfortably below both the 5-year and 10-year historical average deficits of 5.0% and 4.3%, respectively.
• The successful offshore oil field explorations and developments in Guyana in recent years have prompted the government to increase headline expenditure by double-digit growth rates since 2019, and 2023 will be no exception to this trend.
• Nonetheless, Oil revenues will record large gains in the medium term as production continues to rise amid stabilising prices, suggesting that Guyana will hit its first surplus in Fitch’s records by 2024.
• Overall, Fitch sees limited risks to Guyana’s medium-term fiscal trajectory due to persistent surpluses and a low debt-to-GDP ratio (24.6% in 2022 and averaging 25.6% between 2023 and 2027).

(Source: Fitch Solutions)

• As the dust settles from a string of government seizures of failed midsized banks, the forces that sparked the regional banking crisis in March are still at play.
• Rising interest rates will deepen losses on securities held by banks and motivate savers to pull cash from accounts, squeezing the main way these companies make money. Losses on commercial real estate and other loans have just begun to register for banks, further shrinking their bottom lines. Regulators will turn their sights on midsized institutions after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank exposed supervisory lapses. 
• What is coming will likely be the most significant shift in the American banking landscape since the 2008 financial crisis. Many of the country’s 4,672 lenders will be forced into the arms of stronger banks over the next few years, either by market forces or regulators, according to a dozen executives, advisors and investment bankers who spoke with CNBC.
• After 10 straight rate hikes and with banks making headline news again this year, depositors have moved funds in search of higher yields or greater perceived safety. Now the too-big to-fail-banks, with their implicit government backstop, are seen as the safest places to park money. Big bank stocks have outperformed regionals. JPMorgan shares are up 7.6% this year, while the KBW Regional Banking Index is down more than 20%.
• Compounding the industry’s dilemma is the expectation that regulators will tighten oversight of banks, particularly those in the $100 billion to $250 billion asset range, which is where First Republic and SVB slotted.
• “Higher fixed costs require greater scale, whether you’re in steel manufacturing or banking,” he said. “The incentives for banks to get bigger have just gone up materially.” Half of the country’s banks will likely be swallowed by competitors in the next decade, said Chris Wolfe, a Fitch banking analyst. In the meantime, banks are already seeking to unload assets and businesses to boost capital, according to another veteran financials banker and former Goldman Sachs partner. 

(Source: CNBC)

• The European Union signed a free trade agreement with New Zealand on Monday that the two sides expect will increase bilateral trade by up to 30% within a decade. New Zealand will gain up to 1.8 billion New Zealand dollars ($1.1 billion; €1 billion) in exports to the 27-country bloc every year, a government statement said.
• The deal brokered over five years will cut NZ$248 million ($153 million; €140 million) a year in duties, a European Commission statement said. “New Zealand is a key partner for us in the Indo-Pacific region and this free trade agreement will bring us even closer together. With today’s signature, we have taken an important step in making the agreement a reality,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
• Duties will be removed on 91% of New Zealand’s goods exported to the EU from the start of the agreement, rising to 97% after seven years. The deal has yet to be ratified by the two sides' parliaments and a start date set.

(Source: Yahoo Finance)