NEWS
Vemco launches new Lipton Ice Tea
One of the biggest food and beverage distributers and manufacturers in the Caribbean on Saturday launched it’s newest product in TT, Lipton Ice Tea. Speaking to members of the media at the launch at BHP Billiton building, Invaders Bay, Port of Spain, Vemco CEO Christopher Alcazar said, “Lipton Ice Tea for us is something that fits right in the groove of us in a Caribbean island. The ice tea market is certainly not a huge one in TT but globally it’s massive.” Read more here
Tropical Storm Warning discontinued for T&T
The government of Trinidad and Tobago has discontinued the Tropical Storm Warning for Trinidad and Tobago, the National Hurricane Centre reports. It says a Tropical Storm Warning is now in effect for Grenada and its dependencies and St Vincent and the Grenadines. Read more here
Floods subside: Highway reopens
Drivers are being advised that flood water along the Churchill Roosevelt Highway (CRH) between the vicinity of the Churchill Roosevelt Highway and the Uriah Butler Highway (UBH) Interchange has subsided. Read more here
POLITICS
Colm: Aim is to foster culture of saving
The aim of the Government Savings Bonds (Amendment) Bill, which was passed in the Lower House on Friday, is to generate a culture of savings among citizens. In wrapping up debate on the bill, Finance Minister Colm Imbert, who piloted it, said it will allow thousands of citizens to get their dream homes as the bond will be transferable only to the Housing Development Corporation (HDC). The bonds, he said, can be used as collateral by HDC applicants, adding that they carried a better interest than banks with 4.5 per cent over a five-year period. He refuted opposition claims that the bonds will be used by investment institutions and said they will be similar to the National Investment Fund bonds which were over-subscribed by $1 billion. Read more here
Duke: Tobagonianas stranded
Minority Leader of the Tobago House of Assembly Watson Duke is one of several persons who are unable to travel to Tobago as flights remain grounded due to the inclement weather and Tropical Storm watch for Trinidad and Tobago. Read more here
BUSINESS
Pre-budget review: revenue in focus
This week, we at Bourse begin an analysis of several economic trends and consider what investors and the wider public might expect in the upcoming national budget carded for October 7. In the first of a series of articles, we consider the revenue side of the budget equation. Will economic growth remain muted, or will it accelerate? Will energy revenues be higher or lower than projected and how might this impact fiscal decisions for FY 2019/2020? We discuss below. Read more here
REGIONAL
NHT Benefits For All - Phillips Promises Better Housing, Education Opportunities If Elected To Government
The next People’s National Party (PNP) administration will revamp the National Housing Trust (NHT) to ensure that everyone who contributes realises a benefit, Dr Peter Phillips has vowed. Further, Phillips has promised that the PNP, if given state power, will amend the law to make it easier for “the ordinary Jamaican” to get land titles and lead “the most comprehensive assault” on the long-standing problem of squatting. He disclosed, too, that his administration would guarantee a full scholarship for the first child to qualify for tertiary education in every family and provide “one sure meal” per day for primary and secondary students. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Thomas Cook customers to fly home after firm collapses
Ukraine drama could give Democrats no choice but to impeach Trump
The Ukraine scandal raging around Donald Trump is forcing Democrats to confront a fateful choice on impeachment that will not just shape the 2020 election but will echo down the ages. The facts of whether the President pressured Ukraine to investigate his potential Democratic general election opponent Joe Biden while a US military aid package was on the table are still obscured. Trump supporters say there is so far no evidence that he offered a quid pro quo to the Ukrainians and note that an intelligence community whistleblower who raised the alarm was operating with a second-hand knowledge of Trump's conversations. Read more here
Trump says he doesn’t need China trade deal before election
As China and the US near a new round of trade talks, President Donald Trump said yesterday he doesn’t feel he needs to secure an agreement before next year’s election. Trump told reporters he wants a complete deal with China and won’t accept one that only addresses some of the differences between the two nations. “I’m not looking for a partial deal, I’m looking for a complete deal,” Trump said during a press conference with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. For more than a year, the world’s two largest economies have been locked in a high-stakes duel marked by Trump’s escalating penalties on Chinese goods and Beijing’s retaliatory tariffs. Read more here
23rd September 2019