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Market News

January 17, 2020

Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund to Support IDB Social Projects

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) have partnered to promote and develop socially responsible capital markets through investments in IDB Social Bonds focused on Education-Youth-Employment (EYE).

IDB Social (EYE) Bonds foster human capital development from the classroom to the workplace. The funds raised through them will finance projects in Latin America and the Caribbean that promote effective teaching and learning for children and youth, giving them skills needed to enter the labor market and contribute productively to society.

“We are honored to partner with GPIF to further the development of socially responsible investments. The collaboration between GPIF and IDB integrates social aspects into fixed income investments to support IDB in improving lives in Latin America and the Caribbean,” said Mrs. Claudia Bock-Valotta, the IDB’s Vice President for Finance and Administration.

Mr. Hiro Mizuno, Executive Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of GPIF, said he was honored to take part in the IDB’s “life cycle” approach to solving challenges of poverty and inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean through commitments in improving the quality of children’s education and providing greater employment opportunities.

“GPIF requires our asset managers to integrate ESG into their investment analysis and decision-making. We regard the purchase of Green, Social and Sustainability Bonds as one of the direct methods of ESG integration in the fixed income investment,” Mr. Mizuno said. “GPIF looks forward to working together on this initiative.”

The IDB issued its inaugural Social (EYE) bond in September 2014. Since then, the IDB has issued a total of $2.2 billion in various currencies.

About Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF)

GPIF is the largest pension fund in the world in terms of assets under management. GPIF’s goal is to achieve the investment returns required for the public pension system with minimal risks, solely for the benefit of pension recipients from a long-term perspective, thereby contributing to the stability of the system.

About the Inter-American Development Bank

The Inter-American Development Bank is a multilateral financial institution supporting Latin America and the Caribbean’s efforts to reduce poverty and inequality, and to bring about development in a sustainable, climate-friendly way. Established in 1959, it is the leading source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribbean, with a strong commitment to achieving measurable results.

News Release: January 15, 2020 on iadb.org

Jamaica loses $27 million in World Bank funding

The Government of Jamaica has lost just over US$202,000 ($27 million) in grant funding from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development better known as the World Bank.

This was due to the slow implementation of project activities under the Jamaica Social and Economic Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities, which is a project under the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH) that is solely funded by the World Bank.

Despite receiving a one-year extension to August 14, 2018, it was noted that after five years of implementation, the project was only able to expend US$2.7 million or 93 per cent of the US$2.9 million grant funding. As such, the Government of Jamaica lost US$202,341.34 in grants.

Auditor General Pamela Monroe-Ellis reports that an examination of the project by her department revealed that the under-utilisation of the grant funding was due mainly to the Training Consultant delay in submitting final report as well as invoices within the disbursement period.

“Consequently, the Government of Jamaica had to provide US$160,172 ($20.7 million) from another source, to pay for the training which was done subsequent to August, 2018,” Monroe-Ellis stated in her just released annual report to Parliament.

The objective of the project is to assist the Government of Jamaica increase the employability and skills development of poor persons with disabilities, and improve the service delivery of special education needs to poor children with disabilities.

Article Published January 17, 2020 on jamaicaobserver.com

World Bank Pessimistic About Haiti’s Economic Growth

The World Bank has expressed pessimism about Haiti’s global economic outlook after negative growth in its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of – 0.9% in 2019.

According to the World Bank, this negative trend should continue this year and in 2021 before a rebound in 2022.

The World body also said that in addition to Haiti, two other economies will record negative growth in their GDP – they are Argentina and Nicaragua, however it is predicted that their economies should rebound in 2021.

World Bank analysts say that Haiti is the only country in the Latin America and Caribbean region to record a contraction in its GDP.

The analysts also noted that growth in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2020 should reach an average of +1.8 per cent , while that of global growth will amount to +2.5 per cent .

The Dominican Republic remains the leader in the region, followed by Panama.

Article Published January on 17, 2019 on cbc.bb

China data boosts Wall Street futures to new record highs

U.S. stock index futures hit new all-time highs on Friday, with investor optimism bolstered by an upbeat set of U.S. corporate earnings reports and indications of resilience in the Chinese economy.

Spurring inflows in global stock markets for a fifth day, data showed the world’s second-largest economy ended 2019 on a somewhat firmer note, even as economic growth cooled to its weakest in nearly 30 years in the last year.

Optimism over a Phase 1 U.S.-China trade deal signed on Wednesday and recent upbeat data have raised hopes that the global economy may be picking up.

That was set to keep investor spirits intact after a day of many milestones on Wall Street - the S&P 500 crossing the 3,300 mark for the first time and Google-parent Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) becoming the fourth U.S. company to top a market value of over $1 trillion.

Alphabet’s shares were up 0.6% in premarket trading.

In earnings-related news, oilfield service provider Schlumberger NV (SLB.N) gained 2.8% after reporting a slightly better-than-expected quarterly profit.

At 7:28 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 70 points, or 0.24%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 7.25 points, or 0.22% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 33 points, or 0.36%.

After retail sales data for December assuaged concerns about the health of the U.S. consumer on Wednesday, investors are awaiting another batch of data including housing starts number, industrial production and University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index, all set to be released later in the day.

Gap Inc (GPS.N) gained 6.4% after it scrapped its plan to spin-off Old Navy and said it would instead work to stem dropping sales.

Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O) shares rose 1.4% after Citigroup upgraded the stock to “buy” from “neutral”.

International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N) dropped 1% after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to “equal weight”, saying information technology budgets are under pressure in 2020 and that are set to hit the hardware sector the most.

Article Published January 17, 2020 on reuters.com

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