• Britain will expand the size and reach of its development finance institution to provide billions of pounds of investment in infrastructure and technology in countries across Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, the government said. 
• Announcing a plan to rebrand government-owned development investment company CDC as British International Investment (BII), the Foreign Office said the move was part of a strategy to deepen economic, security and development ties globally. 
• "Too many countries have become indebted with strings-attached investment and we want to provide an honest, reliable alternative that is going to enable those countries to grow," Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told Reuters ahead of Thursday's launch at an event at the London Stock Exchange. 
• BII will have 9 billion pounds ($12 billion) of finance by 2025, Truss said. Alongside continuing with CDC's current remit of Africa and South Asia, BII will also invest in low and middle income countries in the Indo-Pacific and Caribbean.

(Source: Reuters)

• The Jamaican economy grew by 6.3% in the September quarter as output in both the goods producing and services industries expanded by 2.8% and 7.3% respectively, according to the Planning Institute of Jamaica. 
• The expansion in the goods producing industry was mainly driven by an increase in the real value added for the manufacturing (8.5%), the agriculture, forestry & fishing (7.2%), and the construction (1.7%) sectors.   
• The growth in agriculture reflects the impact of increased demand, particularly from the Tourism sector, and the implementation of measures by the GOJ to improve output in the industry. Higher output from both the Other Manufacturing and the Food, Beverages & Tobacco components, drove growth in the Manufacturing sector. Increased capital expenditure on civil engineering activities, hotel construction and commercial office space influenced growth in the construction sector. Of note, growth in the construction industry has cooled significantly from its brisk pace of 17.4% in Q2 and 10.5% in Q1. 
• All sectors within the services industry expanded, with the hotels and restaurants sector (114.7%) seeing the most significant growth. This reflected an increase in tourism activity relative to Q3 2020 as high vaccination rates in source markets and increased demand for travel allowed several hotels and restaurants to reopen. Notably, for July-August 2021 total stopover arrivals rose by 293.3%, and cruise passenger arrivals totalled 8,379 relative to none in the corresponding quarter of 2020. 
• Prospects for the overall economy in the short-term are positive due to the recent easing of previously implemented containment measures, and the improved outlook for the tourism sector. The resumption of cruise travel and pent up demand for travel as the peak winter tourism season begins augurs well for the sector. The expected growth in tourism should also have spillover effects to other sectors of the economy, including agriculture. 
• An improvement in employment is also expected to fuel private consumption. Real GDP is projected to grow within the range of 5.0% to 8.0% during October–December 2021. However, a possible spike in COVID-19 cases and the reimplementation of more stringent containment measures, is still the major downside risk to the outlook.

(Source: PIOJ)

• The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) is slated to commence national rollout of the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) platform during the first quarter of 2022. CBDC is a digital form of central bank-issued currency and, therefore, is legal tender that can be exchanged dollar for dollar with physical cash. 
• Deputy Governor with responsibility for Banking, Currency Operations, and Financial Markets, Natalie Haynes, says it is anticipated that by then, additional deposit-taking institutions (DTIs) will be on boarded to enable the issuing of wallets to facilitate an expansion of the number of individuals and businesses utilizing the currency. 
• National Commercial Bank (NCB) is currently the sole DTI participating in the CBDC pilot, which commenced in June and is slated to conclude in December. NCB has developed its wallet and has begun testing the facility with staff and their family members, and there are plans to roll this out, before year end to individuals and small merchants. 
• The next phase will involve testing cash-ins and cash-outs at the automated banking machines (ABMs). The BOJ has also developed a wallet for its staff, and its interoperability with NCB’s will be tested, come December. Interoperability between all wallet providers is an important component of any CDC. 
• According to the Bank, the benefits to be derived by citizens, businesses and the Government from the adoption and introduction of a viable digital currency solution include increased financial inclusion and another means of efficient and secured payments. Additionally, the CBDC represents an opportunity for DTIs to improve cash management processes and costs.

(Source: BOJ)

• Fitch Solutions believes that Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO)’s abrupt reversal of course on his nomination for the next governor of the Banco de México (Banxico) will further undermine investor confidence in policy direction. 
• The decision risks weakening investor perceptions of the central bank's independence and credibility as it faces persistent inflationary pressures. 
• While the potential impact on monetary policy is not yet clear, Fitch believes the decision adds to downside risks to Mexico's near-term growth outlook. It previously highlighted elevated inflation and rising interest rates as threats to consumption and investment over the coming quarters. However, this risk could grow as the deterioration of market confidence could feed into higher inflation through both a weaker exchange rate and higher expectations. 
• At the same time, the central bank could now face a more pronounced policy dilemma, in which raising rates threatens growth, but pursuing more dovish monetary policy risks further weakening markets and feeding inflation.

(Source: Fitch Solutions)

• Exports from Latin America and the Caribbean increased 31.2 per cent in the first semester of 2021, driven by the dynamism of external demand, the lifting of restrictions on mobility, and the progress of vaccination campaigns against the novel coronavirus pandemic, according to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). 
• The rebound puts the region's external sales of goods 11 per cent above the corresponding level in 2019, after falling 9.2 per cent in 2020 due to the economic crisis caused by the pandemic. 
• The IDB Trade and Integration Monitor report indicated that concurrently, exports of services registered a 33.8 per cent drop after contracting 38.5 per cent in 2020. It noted that more traditional items, such as travel and transportation, were hit hardest. However intensive knowledge-based services proved more resilient. 
• This year's issue of the report, which analyses trade flows in Latin America and the Caribbean region through the first half of 2021, projects the continuation of an upward trend in the region's exports for the rest of the year, despite some signs of a slowdown. 
• Trade recovery was primarily driven by increases in prices (17.6 per cent) and in quantities to a lesser extent (11.5 per cent), but the volume of external shipments has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels, the report stated.

(Source: IDB)

• U.S. personal spending rose in October from a month earlier by the most since March, while a closely watched inflation measure posted the largest annual increase in three decades. 
• Purchases of goods and services, unadjusted for changes in prices, increased 1.3% following a 0.6% gain in September, Commerce Department figures showed Wednesday. After adjusting for higher inflation, spending rose a healthy 0.7%. 
• The personal consumption expenditures price gauge, which the Federal Reserve uses for its inflation target, rose 0.6% from a month earlier and 5% from October 2020. The figures come as some Fed officials are advocating for a faster tapering of the central bank’s asset-purchase program than initially planned.

(Source: Bloomberg)

• Floods that wiped out bridges, roads and rail lines in British Columbia will hurt Canada's economic growth and fuel inflation in the fourth quarter, but the Bank of Canada's rate-hike timing is likely to remain unchanged, economists said. 
• Doug Porter, chief economist at BMO Capital Market Economics, halved his fourth quarter growth estimate to 3.0% from a year earlier. That drags down his full-year growth forecast to 4.8%, from a previous forecast of 5.0%, because of the floods and global supply chain disruptions. 
• "For the Bank of Canada, it's not obvious that the weaker growth figures will have much impact as they have hit the supply side and actually threaten to boost inflation even further," he added. 
• Economists are clear the flooding will have a material impact on near-term gross domestic product forecasts, but there is considerable uncertainty about how fast growth could bounce back.

(Source: Reuters)

• Remittance inflows for the first 10 months of 2021 (end of October), totaled approximately US$2.5Bn, relative to US$2.0Bn in 2020. Inflows remained strong despite the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Total remittances for 2020 was US$2.91Bn, 20% higher than 2019. 
• According to the Deputy Governor in charge of Banking, Currency Operations, and Financial Markets, Natalie Haynes, increased remittances have been flowing from Jamaica’s main sources, the United States and United Kingdom. Significant funds have also been received from the Cayman Islands as most persons in the Cayman Islands are sending home their funds in anticipation of returning to Jamaica. 
• Meanwhile, BOJ Governor, Richard Byles, acknowledged that the onset of increased inflation could start to erode the ability of Jamaicans in the diaspora remitting funds. The rate of inflation in the United States climbed to 6.2% as of October 2021, above market forecasts of 5.8% and was the highest in over 30 years. Annual inflation in the United Kingdom climbed to 4.2% in October 2021.

(Source: JIS News)

• Jamaica’s gross international reserves, as at November 17, totaled approximately US$4.7Bn. Governor, Richard Byles, said the figure represents the equivalent of 143.8% of the level considered adequate. Net International Reserves (NIR), at the end of October, totaled US$3.9Bn, and is expected to be stable for the month of November. 
• The Central Bank expects gross reserves will remain healthy supported by a current account deficit, ranging between 1.0% and 3.0% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is a sustainable level by traditional measures. Expectations for a recovery in tourist arrivals and spending should also help to bolster reserves. 
• The BOJ’s $8.0Bn net open position (NOP) cap, which was temporarily removed in January 2020, will be restored effective December 6, 2021. Net open position, which is used to analyze foreign exchange risk, measures the difference between total assets and total liabilities in foreign currency. However, the cap will be adjusted from the $8.0Bn limit to an asymmetric one, corresponding to a $4.5Bn ceiling for long NOP positions and $7.0Bn for shorter ones. The Central Bank is committed to continuously reviewing these limits annually and amending them if deemed necessary.

(Source: JIS News)

• A new revenue protection framework is expected to go before Cabinet shortly, designed to counter a projected loss of some $300 million in fossil fuel vehicle taxes as the Government drives towards its goal of near 100% renewable energy usage by 2030. 
• Minister of Energy, Small Business and Entrepreneurship Kerri Symmonds also disclosed that his technical officers are working with the Barbados National Oil Company Limited (BNOCL) to devise strategies for switching mechanisms for the commercial introduction and supply of biofuels, an initiative he said, which provides for future investment and economic growth. 
• “We are equally conscious that the replacement of the nation’s fleet of internal combustion vehicles, will cause the Inland Revenue Department to potentially face a loss of $300 million estimated in terms of fuel-related taxes,” Minister Symmonds told delegates at the official opening of the second Barbados Sustainable Energy Conference and Expo 2021 on Monday. 
• He revealed that the studies on alternative taxation mechanisms, which could be deployed in order to compensate for the potential and possible revenue losses that might result from the “broad-based introduction” of renewable energy vehicles in Barbados, have been completed.

(Source: Barbados Today)