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BELIZE-ECONOMY-Parliament gives nod to restructured super-bond
BELMOPAN, Belize, CMC – Parliament has given the nod to the terms of a restructured one billion dollar (One Belize dollar = US$0.49 cents) super-bond even as opposition legislators complained of the “arrogant and reckless” position of the government and being kept in the dark over the new initiative. Prime Minister Dean Barrow, who last December said that an agreement…
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BAHAMAS-POLITICS-Bahamas praises Ireland for contribution to Caribbean development
NASSAU, Bahamas, CMC – The Bahamas has praised Ireland for its contribution to the development of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) saying it is also playing a pivotal role in the island’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell said the establishment of an Irish consulate here will further deepen diplomatic relations between the countries since…
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Oil exploration in Guyana shifts to higher gear: CGX starts drilling Eagle-1 well
CGX starts drilling Eagle-1 well -same spot it was evicted from in June 2000 By STABROEK NEWS , MONDAY FEBRUARY 13, 2012 CGX announced that it has begun drilling for oil in the Eagle-1 Well in its 100% owned and operated Corentyne Petroleum Prospecting Licence – the same spot it was evicted from by Surinamese gunboats 12 years ago. CGX’s…
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Caricom’s elusive transport agenda
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago, Express- NOW THAT Carnival 2013 is over Trinidad and Tobago may well give some thought to last weekend's statement by Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves of St Vincent and the Grenadines that this country is breaching Caricom's Revised Treaty in providing fuel subsidy support to state-owned Caribbean Airlines (CAL). Gonsalves currently wears two hats pertaining…
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‘Time hard and the dutty tough’, but…
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Observer – WE have a sense that the Government's version of JDX, being called the National Debt Exchange Offer, is a smart way to squeeze $17 billion annually out of the system, without sending the nation into panic. We will return to this tomorrow in this space. But at the same, we also have the sense that Monday…
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Our Hands Are Tied – Stakeholders Reluctantly Accept New Debt Exchange
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Observer – It was not a happy group inside the Bank of Jamaica Auditorium in Kingston yesterday morning as Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and Minister of Finance and Planning Dr Peter Phillips hosted the launch of the National Debt Exchange (NDX). The second of its kind in three years, Simpson Miller has indicated that the offer is…
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Government planning to tax churches, charities?
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Observer – ELIMINATING discretionary waivers altogether could return $4 billion in revenue to the Government. But the tax breaks, which are approved after applications are considered by the finance ministry, mostly go to charitable organisations, while public sector bodies and government contracts take up a significant portion of the rest. What's more, with a targeted primary surplus of…
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EDITORIAL – Debt Restructuring Merely One Step
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Gleaner – Monday night's unprecedented joint broadcast by Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and Finance Minister Peter Phillips about the proposed restructuring of Jamaica's domestic debt – and other measures to reform the economy – is a welcome first step. But Mrs Simpson Miller and Dr Phillips will understand if this newspaper, as do many other Jamaicans, wants…
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Exporters escape incentive cuts, for now
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Observer -THE Jamaica Exporters' Association (JEA) is breathing a sign of relief in the face of planned fiscal cuts by the Government. The association said it has been assured that statutory incentives to its members will remain intact though the Government continues to grapple with fiscal consolidation. “The obligations that the Government has already put in place will…
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S&P downgrades Jamaica’s credit rating
(Jamaica Gleaner) Standard & Poor’s has downgraded Jamaica’s sovereign credit rating from B- to selective default in response to the Government’s debt exchange programme. Selective default occurs when a borrower elects to delay the repayment of some of its financial obligations while fully honouring others. Standard & Poor’s says it sees the move by Jamaica as a default of its…
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