NEWS
CoP defends roadblocks
Police Commissioner Gary Griffith responded to criticism from the public over roadblocks over the past four days. While he understood the inconvenience they may cause, they were necessary to save lives, he said. In a police media release on Tuesday, Griffith hit back at critics who accused the police of causing unnecessary traffic congestion, saying it was errant drivers disobeying the stay-at-home orders that were to blame. Read more here
Oil’s chaotic collapse deepens as global stocks drop
A barrel of oil now costs less than a cheap bottle of wine. Oil prices crumpled even further yesterday, and US stocks sank to their worst loss in weeks as worries swept markets worldwide about the economic carnage caused by the coronavirus pandemic. US benchmark crude was trading as low as $6.50 a barrel yesterday, more than 80 per cent lower than the start of the year. The dizzying drop reflected stark suffering in the global economy that has left vastly diminished demand for oil. There’s little mystery around the sharp drop-off: Efforts to limit the spread of the coronavirus have major cities around the world on lockdown, air travel has been seriously curtailed and millions of people are working from home, leading to far fewer commuters on the roads. Read more here
POLITICS
Minister sets the record straight: "I've never been on any state boards..."
Minister of Public Administration and Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Senator Allyson West, is refuting claims made in a newspaper article about her over the weekend, that she was a member of a state board. Minister West responded to the article today, seeking to what she says is erroneous information in the Sunday Express article published on Sunday 19 April 2020.According to the Minister, a simple verification exercise could have avoided the error, which leaves the wrong impression in the minds of the public. Read more here
BUSINES
Energy expert
Trinidad and Tobago should take no comfort from the fact that its oil is benchmarked against Brent and not West Texas Intermediate which crashed to below zero dollars for a barrel of oil according to Energy Consultant Anthony E. Paul. According to Paul the price of Brent crude will also be negatively impacted as storage capacity begins to run out for global producers. Speaking yesterday on CNC3’s the Morning Brew, Paul said: “I suspect that there will be some fallout with Brent as well, as storage gets to be low and it is quite low right now.” The energy consultant also remarked that T&T benchmarks its gas against Brent as well, which means that the country will face challenges in the foreseeable future as it pertains to energy prices. Read more here
Central Bank ready to adjust policies again
Following its unprecedented joint reduction of the repo rate and the reserve requirement on March 17, the Central Bank has declared that it is ready to provide additional liquidity to the commercial banking system, if that is warranted by the prevailing conditions. Read more here
REGIONAL
Global oil slump a ‘valuable lesson’ for Guyana
THE current global decline in the demand for oil, resulting in lower-than-usual oil prices, provides a “valuable lesson” for Guyana on the volatility of the oil industry which it has now become part of, according to Senior Trinidadian Economist, Dr. Roger Hosein. On Monday afternoon, oil prices for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude collapsed to sub-zero prices, at minus $37.63 per barrel, for some futures contracts. These futures contracts are a legal agreement whereby assets (in this case, barrels of oil) are bought and sold at a predetermined price for some time in the future. Read more here
COVID CRIME RIOTS - PM warns of conspiracy of chaos in pressing for SOE extensions
In making his case for an extension of sweeping security powers, Prime Minister Andrew Holness disclosed to Parliament yesterday that intelligence revealed that criminals had hatched a calculated plan to incite instability to profit from the COVID-19 pandemic. “There are organised criminal gangs who are seeking to create hysteria, who are seeking to target distribution and retail chains, who are seeking to put people in lines to chaos and to start fights. “... Let it be known that even though we are consumed with fighting this health epidemic, we have not relented or are diverted in our efforts to fight the crime, murder and violence epidemic in this country,” Holness told Parliament yesterday. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Coronavirus pandemic will cause global famines of 'biblical proportions,' UN warns
The world is facing multiple famines of "biblical proportions" in just a matter of months, the UN has said, warning that the coronavirus pandemic will push an additional 130 million people to the brink of starvation. Famines could take hold in "about three dozen countries" in a worst-case scenario, the executive director of the World Food Programme (WFP) said in a stark address on Tuesday. Ten of those countries already have more than 1 million people on the verge of starvation, he said. He cited conflict, an economic recession, a decline in aid and a collapse in oil prices as factors likely to lead to vast food shortages, and urged swift action to avert disaster. Read more here
Canada shooting: Death toll in Nova Scotia rises to 22
The toll from the worst mass shooting in Canada's modern history, a 14-hour rampage over the weekend, has risen to 22 from 19, police say. The victims include a 17-year-old, a pregnant healthcare worker and a veteran Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer. Authorities are yet to determine a motive for the crime. Police say the gunman knew some of the victims. The gunman, a 51-year-old man, was killed in a confrontation with police. During the attack he wore an authentic RCMP police uniform and drove a "look-alike" police vehicle, authorities said. Read more here
22nd April 2020