• Puerto Rico is set for a major update to its travel requirements — requiring vaccinations for all guests of hotels, guest houses and short-term rentals on the island. Beginning Aug. 16, vaccinations will be required for both employees and guests of all such properties.  
• Those not vaccinated must present a negative PCR or antigen test taken within 72 hours of the beginning of their visit. For unvaccinated travelers staying longer than one week, they must continue to present negative tests on a weekly basis.  
• Unvaccinated travelers who arrive without a test must upload a PCR or antigen test taken within 48 hours after arriving on the island — or they will receive a $300 fine. 
• This could deter some tourists from visiting slowing down the recovery in the sector and the economy, which Fitch Solutions expects to contract further by 1.0%. A failure by the US federal government to provide timely and sufficient funds for ongoing hurricane reconstruction and COVID-19 response efforts could push back the timeline for a recovery in growth in Puerto Rico. The federal government has delayed aid in the past due to concerns about corruption, though this risk has diminished under the US President Joe Biden administration.

(Source: Caribbean Journal & NCBCM Research)

• Fitch Solutions maintains a positive outlook over the medium term for global equities, but expects developed market (DM) equities to continue outperforming emerging market (EM) equities. This outlook is underpinned by the strong global economic recovery and still accommodative fiscal and monetary policy. 
• In the US in particular, Fitch expects that equity markets will be supported by strong economic and earnings data as well as the improving attractiveness of equities relative to bonds. However, the divergence in performance between most DM equities and most EM equities is likely to continue on the back of the two-speed economic recovery caused by uneven vaccination progress across the globe. 
• From a regional perspective, Asian equities look set to remain under pressure in the short term due to the continued spread of Covid-19 and slow vaccine rollouts.  Chinese equities will also continue to underperform in the short term due to Beijing’s crackdown on several sectors and downside risks to growth.

(Source: Fitch Solutions)

• S. President Joe Biden's administration on Wednesday urged OPEC and its allies to boost oil output to tackle rising gasoline prices that they see as a threat to the global economic recovery.
• The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+, had implemented a record output cut of 10 million barrels per day, about 10% of world demand, as global energy demand slumped during the pandemic. But it has gradually raised output since, with the cut eased to about 5.8 million bpd as of July. 
• OPEC+ agreed in July to boost output by 400,000 bpd a month starting in August until the rest of the 5.8 million bpd cut is phased out. OPEC+ is scheduled to hold another meeting on Sept. 1 to review the situation. 
• Biden later told reporters on Wednesday that the United States had made clear to OPEC that "the production cuts made during the pandemic should be reversed" as the global economy recovers "in order to lower prices for consumers."

(Reuters)

• The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) has minted Jamaica’s first batch of central bank digital currency (CBDC). A total of $230.0Mn in CBDC will be issued to deposit-taking institutions and authorized payment service providers during the CBDC pilot exercise, which ends in December. 
• CBDC is a digital form of central bank-issued currency and therefore is legal tender and should not to be confused with cryptocurrency. Households and businesses will be able to use CBDC to make payments and store value, as now obtains with cash. 
• Minister Clarke highlighted the importance of the CBDC project in the creation of a digital economy. He also noted that the legislative amendment to accompany CBDC will be in place before the end of this fiscal year. 
• BOJ Governor Richard Byles has stated that the next step after this significant milestone is to ensure widespread access and acceptance by taking CBDC to the people. eCurrency CEO (the technology provider), Jonathan Dharmapalan, has acknowledged the amount of work done on the project in a relatively short time, noting that Jamaica has the fastest-moving CBDC project in the world.

Source: (JIS News)

• The Ministry of Tourism is seeking to capitalize on Jamaica’s dominance in track and field at the just-concluded Tokyo Olympics to bring more visitors to the island. 
• The Minister noted that the performance of the athletes has given Jamaica a major marketing platform and further highlights the huge potential of sports tourism as an important value-added product. He further noted that sports tourism will become a major part of the deliverables in tourism and an important medium by which the ministry will continue to pursue and promote aggressively. 
• Even before the Tokyo Olympics, the Ministry has been pursuing several initiatives aimed at boosting the development of sports tourism in Jamaica. It recently opened the Negril Mini-Stadium, which was constructed at a cost of $83.0Mn through the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo), with funding from the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF).  
• It was also noted that the goal of the Vision 2030 Sector Strategy for Sports and Tourism is not just to promote Jamaica as a sports destination but to also maximize the role of sports as a source of wealth. He also expressed confidence that the tourism sector will recover stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: (JIS News)

• After cutting its benchmark policy rate by 150 bps in March 2020 in response to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (CBTT) has decided to hold its benchmark monetary policy rate at 3.50% through end-2021 in an effort to support Trinidad and Tobago’s economic recovery. 
• At its June 25 monetary policy meeting, the CBTT cited the modest economic recovery and weak credit growth for continuing its accommodative stance. Although Fitch forecasts real GDP growth of 4.4% in 2021, the economy will remain 12.1% lower than its peak in 2015. 
• Fitch Solutions forecasts that inflation will remain sluggish in the quarters ahead, averaging 1.4% in 2021 and 2.1% in 2022, as weak economic activity limits price pressures. 
• Subdued domestic inflation and accommodative policies by global central banks will allow the CBTT to gradually tighten monetary, hiking to 3.75% by end-2022.

(Source: Fitch Solutions)

• Mexico and the United States made progress in bilateral cooperation on Tuesday after talks that were intended to focus on stemming illegal immigration and reopening their shared border, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said. 
• During their call, the United States agreed to send Mexico 3.5 million doses of drugmaker Moderna Inc's COVID-19 vaccine and up to 5 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, Ebrard said, noting that the vaccines would likely arrive in August. 
• While there is an expectation that the land border will reopen, Ebrard added that he did not expect it to reopen by Aug. 21, and that more time would be needed to resume transit for so-called nonessential trips, including for those who cross the border to work or attend school.

(Source: Reuters News)

• China’s central bank fanned expectations of further monetary policy easing, saying in its latest quarterly report that inflation pressures are “controllable,” while highlighting risks to the economic growth outlook. 
• The People’s Bank of China largely reiterated its stance of stable policy, pledging to make it more forward-looking and effective, while maintaining ample liquidity. The surge in producer inflation in the first half was likely temporary, and the domestic recovery is not yet solid, it said. 
• The fast-spreading delta virus variant is restricting travel and spending in parts of China, prompting some economists to downgrade their growth forecasts for the world’s second-largest economy. Many of them are predicting another reduction in the reserve requirement ratio for banks after July’s surprise cut, while a few are forecasting lower interest rates as well.

(Source: Bloomberg)

• Hiring rose in July at its fastest pace in nearly a year despite fears over COVID-19′s delta variant and as companies struggled with a tight labour supply, the Labour Department reported Friday. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 943,000 for the month, while the unemployment rate dropped to 5.4%, according to the department’s Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS). The payroll increase was the best since August 2020. 
• Average hourly earnings also increased more than expected, rising 0.4% for the month and are up 4% from the same period a year ago, at a time when concerns are increasing about persistent inflationary pressures. 
• “The data for recent months suggest that the rising demand for labour associated with the recovery from the pandemic may have put upward pressure on wages,” the BLS said in the report, though it cautioned that the Covid impact is still skewing data and wage gains are uneven across industries. 
• The drop in the headline unemployment rate looked even stronger considering that the labour force participation rate ticked up to 61.7%, tied for the highest level since the pandemic hit in March 2020.

(Source: CNBC)

• Caribbean Cement Company Limited (CCC) has advised that it has decided to embark on an expansion project during the second half of 2022 to achieve a 30.0% increase in its production capacity. Currently, CCC produces and supplies over 1.0Mn Metric Tonnes of cement to the local market annually.
• This capacity upgrade also involves the implementation of new technologies, which will introduce novel grinding additives to the manufacturing process to reduce the clinker content in the cement produced by CCC. In addition, this upgrade is intended to minimize the company’s carbon footprint in Jamaica by optimizing the heat consumption involved in the cement production process.
• The total investment for this capacity upgrade is estimated at US$30.00Mn. This project is consistent with the Company’s overall growth plan and is intended to strengthen its ability to respond to local and export demand over the medium term.
• The company has continued to produce strong results in spite of the pandemic, with net profits doubling during the first half of its 2021 financial year, on the back of a 32.0% increase in revenues. The company attributed the higher revenues to strong domestic demand, and its capacity to supply the local market. As CCC increases its production capacity we anticipate that it will be able to continue to meet the growing domestic demand in the construction industry and could finally begin to sustainably execute on its plans to export cement to the region.  We anticipate that when it achieves its new production capacity this should support top and bottom-line growth and bringing greater value to the shareholders.
• CCC’s price has appreciated by 50.4% year to date to $94.43 as at August 9^th. At this price the stock trades at a P/E of 15.2x which is below the main market manufacturing sector average of 17.7x.

Source: (JSE & NCBCM Research)