Economy in Caribbean
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EGYPT, 2017/05/07
Two-thousand and sixteen was relatively quiet for African banking markets on the merger and acquisition (M&A) front. In most of the continent’s larger economies, inclunding Nigeria and South Africa, major transaction announcements were absent despite the challenging economic conditions of recent times. Buy-ins to African banks from European and Middle Eastern players were as well low, according to data from Mergermarket.
This contrasts sharply from 2015 at the same time as buyers from Norway, Kuwait and the UK all made significant acquisitions on the continent. These deals were complemented by several bold intra-regional transactions, inclunding Kenya’s Equity Group acquiring a stake in a microfinance provider in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Morocco’s Banque Centrale Populaire buying a position in BIA Niger.
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EGYPT, 2017/05/07
Two-thousand and sixteen was relatively quiet for African banking markets on the merger and acquisition (M&A) front. In most of the continent’s larger economies, inclunding Nigeria and South Africa, major transaction announcements were absent despite the challenging economic conditions of recent times. Buy-ins to African banks from European and Middle Eastern players were as well low, according to data from Mergermarket.
This contrasts sharply from 2015 at the same time as buyers from Norway, Kuwait and the UK all made significant acquisitions on the continent. These deals were complemented by several bold intra-regional transactions, inclunding Kenya’s Equity Group acquiring a stake in a microfinance provider in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Morocco’s Banque Centrale Populaire buying a position in BIA Niger.
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TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO, 2017/04/11
In its monetary policy announcement issued January 27, the Central Bank of T&T said the domestic economic environment continued to be characterised by sluggishness, with retail, construction and its associated industries remaining subdued.As the outlook for the energy sector improves, there are signs that broader economic activity could pick up this year as well.
From presently on the statement as well contained some positive indications, not least forecasts that the energy sector – the biggest contributor to T&T’s economy, at around 40% of GDP – was expected to perform better in 2017. Expected increases in production and prices, it said, could see additional capital flowing into the domestic economy.
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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, 2016/01/17
According to preliminary data from the Central Bank, the economy grew 7.0% in 2015, which was a slight deceleration over the 7.3% increase tallied in the previous year but marked the second-best reading in the last five years.
Last year’s expansion was mainly driven by impressive increase in the construction sector, which increased 18.2%. The figure was up from the 13.8% rise observed in the previous year. In addition, increase in the service sector, which represents additional than half of the country’s GDP, accelerated from 5.7% in 2014 to 6.3% in 2015.
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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, 2016/01/16
In November, economic activity increased 6.5% over the same month of the previous year, according to an estimate of the monthly indicator for economic activity (IMAE, Indice Mensual de Actividad Economica). The expansion was slightly above the 6.4% increase observed October.
However, the trend worsened slightly in November, with annual average increase in economic activity inching down from 6.9% in October to 6.8% in November.
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AFGHANISTAN, 2016/01/02
World economic increase will be disappointing next year and the outlook for the medium-term has as well deteriorated, the chief of the International Monetary Fund said in a guest article for German newspaper Handelsblatt published on Wednesday.
IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said the prospect of rising interest rates in the United States and an economic slowdown in China were contributing to uncertainty and a higher risk of economic vulnerability worldwide.
Added to that, increase in world trade has slowed considerably and a decline in raw material prices is posing problems for economies based on these, while the financial sector in a lot of nations still has weaknesses and financial risks are rising in emerging markets, she said.
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JAMAICA, 2015/05/24
Minister of Agriculture, Labour and Social Security Derrick Kellier is pleading with Jamaicans to hold strain as the government executes a reform programme under an International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreement to get the economy back on track.
“Given the present dispensation in which we are forced to operate as a country, we have no option at this time but to endure a little longer, the stringencies and fiscal discipline imposed by the government’s Economic Reform Programme,” he said.
He said it was the absence of such a programme, prior to presently, that placed Jamaica part the majority indebted nations in the world and stagnated the economy for 40 years.
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AFGHANISTAN, 2015/01/20
Low oil prices will not provide a sufficient updraught to dispel the clouds hanging over the world economy, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday.
In a sign of its increasing gloom about the medium term economic outlook, the IMF cut its world economic increase forecasts by 0.3 % points for both 2015 and 2016, despite believing cheaper oil represents a “shot in the arm”.
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TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO, 2014/12/18
The Trinidad and Tobago government Friday said it did not expect “significant” changes to the country’s economy as a result of a decline in oil prices, but said some belt tightening will have to be undertaken by the Kamla Persad Bissessar government.
Finance Minister Larry Howai in a statement to Parliament said that the “country’s financial coffers remain strong and foreign exchange reserves have increased to over 11 billion (One TT dollar =US$0.16 cents) from TT$8.9 billion in 2009.
“The country’s in general fiscal position and revenue flows as well remain healthy. We are confident therefore that even with these conservative assumptions regarding the expected trajectory of oil and gas prices this year that it will result in very marginal changes to the in general programmes of government.
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BARBADOS, 2014/06/01
Caribbean nations ended 2013 on a additional solid economic footing than it had done since the start of the 2007/2008 world economic recession, according to figures released by the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).
The CDB, which is holding its 44th Annual Conference of the Board of Governors here, said that a lot of of its borrowing member states (BMCs) recorded increases “albeit modest in economic activity”.
CDB President Dr. Warren Smith said that “at the regional level, increase and sustainability were recurring themes in discussions about performance”.
The CDB said that preliminary estimates indicate that the economic activity in the region grew by an average of 1.5 % last year, up slightly from a revised figure of 1.2 % for 2012.
