In this episode, Communications Officers at the CARICOM Secretariat, Ms Jascene Dunkley-Malcolm and Ms Michelle Nurse, present a weekly news roundup of the latest from the Caribbean Community.

Highlights:

00:00:45:19 – Crime and Violence Initiative continue
00:05:09:00 – Dr Wayne Wesley, New CXC Registrar/Chief Executive Officer
00:06:10:11 – CARICOM, OAS, The Commonwealth in Joint Special Mission to Dominica
00:07:24:06 – Slavery Reparations: The University of the West Indies and University of Glasgow ink Agreement
00:09:38:11 – Baroness Valerie Amos appointed first female Master at University College Oxford
00:10:18:18 – Jamaica and Barbados welcome Republic of Kenya President
00:11:19:20 – Regional Nursing Body meets
00:18:09:07 – Countdown to CARIFESTA

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CARICOM Business:

De-risking alert—US$50 m in cash being shipped monthly

The shipment of large volumes of hard currency from       Jamaica – US$40 – 50 million monthly – has become a significant area of concern for the local financial sector, as these shipments are legitimizing the de-risking concerns being exhibited towards the island by foreign banks, which are refusing to hold US cash on behalf of their local counterpart. Most of this money is not coming directly from the banking sector but cambios buying hard currency in the market place says Assistant General Manager of National Commercial Bank, Peter Higgins.  He pointed out that whenever the question about the large volumes of cash from Jamaica is posited by correspondence banks in the United States and the explanation about tourism payments is advanced, the correspondent banks remained unconvinced, advancing the argument that so much cash cannot be coming from tourism, which mainly utilises electronic payment. Currently, for the first 6 months of 2019 some US$222 million in hard currency was purchased with Bank of America, being the only overseas bank willing to accept the excess US dollars in cash. (JO)