• A staff team of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), led by Alejandro Santos, visited Panama during July 17-23, 2019, on an invitation from the Panamanian authorities.
• Santos said, “while Panama remains among the most dynamic economies in Latin America, the economic recovery has been slower than anticipated. Real GDP grew at an annual rate of 3.1% in the first quarter of 2019 (compared to 4% in the same period of last year), due to a softening in construction and services.
• More recent data pointing to a continuation of a sluggish recovery, lead the IMF to revise down its growth projection for 2019 to 5% (from 6% estimated in the February visit).
• Panama’s fundamentals remain solid, with the economy expected to recover and converge to its potential growth of 5.5% by next year, and inflation edging up to 2% over the medium-term.
• Authorities also expect to reduce the fiscal deficit by over 2% of GDP in the next two years, allowing Panama to observe the deficit limit under the fiscal responsibility law of 1.75% of GDP by 2021.

(Source: IMF)

NCB Capital Markets is first Caribbean sponsor of an IAAF Diamond League meet

Kingston, Jamaica – July 11, 2019: NCB Capital Markets has been confirmed as the first official Caribbean sponsor of an IAAF Diamond League meet. This strategic partnership between NCB Capital Markets and the Monaco Diamond League 2019 is part of the company’s thrust to expand its reach into international markets and invite foreign investors to do business in the region.

“We are very proud of our partnership with the IAAF Diamond League,” said Steven Gooden, CEO of NCB Capital Markets. “This event is known globally as a marker of the highest level of achievement in athletics, featuring top athletes from around the world such as our brand ambassador and double Olympic Champion, Elaine Thompson. We too are passionate about doing things at the highest level based on global best practices for the benefit of our regional clients.” As an official partner of the IAAF Monaco Diamond League 2019, we not only have the honour of reaching athletics fans all around the world, we also have an opportunity to show international investors that the Caribbean is open for business, and we are ready to partner with them on their regional investments.”

A leading investment bank and asset manager in the Caribbean, NCB Capital Markets is a subsidiary of the NCB Financial Group, which recently acquired controlling shares in Clarien Bank and Guardian Holdings Limited.

Through this partnership, NCB Capital Markets will enjoy significant brand presence at the stadium in Monaco, with exposure on print materials, bibs, digital screens and the official Diamond League website. Furthermore, global viewership of the event is expected to increase exponentially, as double Olympic champion Elaine Thompson, who is the world leader in the 200m event, is expected to go head-to-head with two-time world champion Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands, Olympic 400m champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas, and world silver-medallist, Marie-Josee Ta Lou from the Ivory Coast.

• Existing U.S. tariffs will have to be removed if there is to be a trade deal between Beijing and Washington, China’s commerce ministry said on Thursday.
• The leaders of the two countries agreed last weekend to relaunch trade talks that had stalled in May after U.S. officials accused China of pulling back from commitments made in the text of pact negotiators had said was nearly finished. Trade teams from both countries are in contact, commerce ministry spokesman Gao Feng told a regular media briefing.
• To get talks restarted, U.S. President Donald Trump had agreed not to put tariffs on about $300 billion in additional Chinese imports and ease curbs on Chinese tech giant Huawei. The United States now has tariffs of 25% on $250 billion of Chinese goods, ranging from furniture to semiconductors. China welcomes the U.S. decision not to slap new tariffs on its goods, Gao said, when asked how long the trade truce can last.

(Source: Reuters)