Jamaica
• Finance Minister Shaw announced an extension
of the deadline for the completion of the US$8
billion domestic debt swap. The government said
that it has received “overwhelmingly positive”
response to the offer with nearly all institutional
investors supporting the transaction. However,
local retail brokers have requested an extension
in the submission deadline to allow additional
time to work with smaller clients.
• According to tourism officials, tourist
arrivals to Jamaica are up for the winter season
with 220,000 stopover visitors arriving since
December 15th 2009 and a 9% improvement seen
in January arrivals over the corresponding period
last year.
• Moody’s Investors Service has
changed the ratings outlook of Air Jamaica Limited
(“Air Jamaica”) to stable. The respective
Corporate Family and senior unsecured ratings
of Air Jamaica are affirmed at Caa1. The change
in outlook mirrors the change of the outlook
of the foreign currency bond rating of The Government
of Jamaica (“Jamaica”) to stable,
which occurred on January 22, 2010.
Trinidad
• Trinidad and Tobago Cabinet has approved
draft legislation for credit unions that will
increase oversight over those institutions,
among other reforms. Finance Minister Karen
Nunez Tesheira advised that the Credit Union
Societies Bill, in draft and also in the form
of a policy document, has been reviewed by
the Cabinet and will be taken to the legislative
review committee.
• The Minister commented that “Based
on criteria developed by the Central Bank
this policy document now enables credit unions
to adhere to international best practice.
It also facilitates improvement in corporate
governance and higher standards of oversight
in the Credit Union Movement,”
St. Maarten
• St. Maarten tourism officials have
indicated that they intend to boost marketing
in South America. Tourism officials, led by
Commissioner of Tourism Frans Richardson,
will embark on a key South America trip in
the near future.
Figure
2: Tracking key Caribbean financial indicators
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has not independently verified the facts,
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