Highest Quarterly Economic Growth In Years. EGC To Launch This Week

National Highlights

• The Jamaican economy grew by 2.3 per cent for the July to September 2016 quarter, the highest quarterly growth recorded since 2002.
  • Finance Minister Audley Shaw said the agricultural sector grew by 28.8% (twice the figure recorded for April to June), while the hotel and restaurant sector grew by more than 2%.

• Minister of Finance and the Public Service Audley Shaw this week urged the country to rally behind Government’s efforts to control the slide of the Jamaican dollar against the United States currency. The minister has reported that interest rates are trending down, there is no shortage of foreign exchange (with gross foreign exchange of over US$3b), and the government has continued with the IMF. Inflation is also at an all time low and the current account is better than in previous years.
  • This week he announced that a group of stakeholders has been set up to work with the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) to address issues with the sliding dollar. That working group was to have its first weekly meeting with the BOJ on Friday.
• The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved the Banking Services (Agent Banking) Regulations… related to (Deposit Taking Institutions). The regulations will provide a framework that will allow some banking business to be undertaken through agents authorised by a Supervisory Authority.
  • This will allow third parties to provide some banking services including deposits and withdrawals, payment of bills and loan repayments, electronic transfer of funds, and account balance enquiries. Possible third-parties include supermarkets, gas stations, hardware stores, money transfer and remittance operations, and lottery outlets.
• Agriculture Minister, Karl Samuda, says the Long Pond Sugar Factory in Trelawny will not reopen next year. The government took over operations at Long Pond in March after the factory’s owners indicated that they were not able to keep it open.
  • The intervention was to last for three months but was extended to October.
  • The agriculture minister said the government is to spend $50 million to truck the remaining 50,000 tonnes of cane in the fields surrounding the factory to the Worthy Park Estate in St Catherine.

• Credit unions are being urged to actively pursue strategies that will enable them to improve their state-of-readiness in meeting the requirements under the Bank of Jamaica (BoJ) Credit Union Regulations.
• Internationally, the S&P posted its longest losing streak this week in nearly 36 years as investors gear up for US election

• The Jamaica Stock Exchange’s (JSE) stock split took effect last week. Paramount Trading Limited voted on and approved their stock split last week, and Epply will also be meeting this week to consider a stock split.
• A newly established tobacco company was launched in Jamaica this week. The company hopes to cultivate 1,500 acres, employ up to 5,000 individuals and invest $1.4b in the cultivation of tobacco – this all in the first year alone. The $1.4b is mainly first year expenditure to set up greenhouses, factory, and buy machinery etc. Total expenditure over 4 years should total $7.7b.
• University College of the Caribbean (UCC) is signalling that the educational institution is considering raising funds, privately or publicly. This week Mayberry Investments Limited announced that they would act as UCC Group’s adviser and lead broker. The UCC, Jamaica’s largest private, non-affiliated tertiary institution, was founded in 2004.
• Advanced Integrated Systems (AIS), a company which already processes about 130,000 health claims daily for some 3,900 medical facilities, two large insurance companies and the national health fund (NHF) – has rolled out its National Patient Information System (NPIS) to government-operated pharmacies in hospitals, and continues to push for take-up by doctors in private practice.
  • AIS has created a database that will allow medical practitioners to generate electronic prescriptions, schedule appointments with clients, receive medical alerts and information on new drugs and process health claims.
  • The new NPIS is built on four areas and it proposes to revamp patient record management, allowing patients to own their medical information, contrary to what currently obtains where patients’ records remain the property of medical facilities. Douglas Halsall is the company’s chairman and CEO.
• T. Geddes Grant, a member of the Musson Group of Companies, has acquired exclusive rights to distribute an array of drinks made by S.M. Jaleel & Company. The portfolio includes Kool Kidz, as well as Cool Runnings water, Fruta juice-drink, Cole Cold soft drinks and Island Fusion iced teas.
  • S.M. Jaleel & Company is one of the oldest and largest manufacturers of non-alcoholic beverages in Trinidad. It exports to over 60 territories with subsidiaries in the Caribbean, South Africa, India, Saudi Arabia and the United States.
  • The beverages to be handled by T. Geddes Grant were previously distributed within Jamaica by Massy Group.
  • The distribution deal, which started on Tuesday, November 1, will grow T. Geddes Grant’s local distribution business significantly. Consequently, it will result in T. Geddes Grant investing in additional staff and technology to execute the deal.
• Pepsi Jamaica is to become the region’s bottling hub

• The Economic Growth Council is expected to have their launch event and announce their plan of action to generate 5% growth in the next 4 years. The event will be live on Business Access TV, RJR, Love and Mello Fm on Monday November 7, 2016 @7pm. There will also be live streaming and delayed broadcasts.
• A number of companies are all set to have board meetings and release results this week including – Seprod (7th), Carreras (9th), GK (10th), and Epply (10th… including a stock split).