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Finance

TCIG can afford to do lower LIVING COSTS; surplus hits $73 Million says Finance Minister

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By Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

 

 

#TurksandCaicos, May 19, 2023 – Residents and politicians agree, the cost of living in the Turks and Caicos is especially high. It has been a regretful admission and an enduring complaint respectively over the years, even more so in the 2022/23 financial year.

A deadly cocktail of inflation over dependence on imports, almost no local food production, low exports, and a resource stifling war, has left the Turks and Caicos’ residents paying exorbitant prices on nearly every front, from food to gasoline to housing.

Despite several programs implemented in the financial year (2022/23), the Government has not quite managed to bring costs down significantly or even to cut the prices where they tend to balloon most significantly, at the ports.

Last year, the PNP Government stepped in with three programs to buffer residents from inflation: The Food and Fuel Tax Break (April 2022), the Bread Basket Duty Exemptions (August 2022), and the Fuel Factor Stabilization Credit (October 2022). Introduced alongside various stimulus payments, the credits were aimed at taming food, electricity, and gasoline costs.

Together, these were initially projected to cost the Government $ 21.5 million. That is $15 million for the Food and Fuel Tax Break, an initial 4 million for the Bead Basket exemptions and 2.5 million for the Fuel Factor.

It took some time, the measures suffered some technical setbacks but they eventually worked to lessen the strain and were given multiple extensions.

Still, Magnetic Media fielded residents’ questions, asking ‘whether this was the most the Government could do?’ The Government made it clear that the buffer was just that, a buffer, not a magic wand to eliminate the historic inflation rate entirely.

With the programs and inflation slowly decreasing globally, prices in the country eased a bit in all three areas. However, revealing public conversations with a leading shipper exposed that the Turks and Caicos uniquely pays more for goods brought in.  Having little exports, many learned, drives up the cost of imports which come largely from the USA.

Giving credence to the concerns that more could be done to reduce the cost of living in TCI, The Turks and Caicos Islands Government reported that revenue in 2022 took no significant hit from the three programs, which reduced or eliminated Government taxes on select commodities.

In fact, revenue earned on imports from January – September 2022 increased by 45.7 percent, or $497.5 Million, according to the Trade Report of April 2023.

The Budget Communication delivered by the Hon E Jay Saunders, Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance, Investment & Trade, further revealed that TCIG underspent its initial $388 million Budget for 2022-2023 by a whopping $48 million. That contributed to an ‘operating surplus’ of $73 million.

It now brings to the surface, yet again, that the TCI Government with only $600,000 in debt, tens of millions in surplus, and the understanding that the country’s unique position which forces the costs of fuel, food, electricity, and housing to be unrelentingly high, can afford to do more.

For the 2023/24 financial year E Jay Saunders, Deputy Premier and Finance Minister, has promised that with record profits recorded, cost of living is one of the main items the Government is looking to address. On the way, is a trio of social programs and port upgrades to make importation cheaper.

Caribbean News

CIBC Caribbean announces a change to its Country Management Structure

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New structure is expected to place renewed emphasis on employee,

community and client relationships as bank harnesses internal talent to lead new phase

 

Donna Wellington

Bridgetown, Barbados. 29th January 2025. The Caribbean’s leading financial services company, CIBC Caribbean, has announced a change to its Country Management, that will place greater emphasis on relationships with key stakeholder groups, including its employees, clients and the community. The bank currently operates in 10 Caribbean countries, having reduced its geographical footprint from 17 countries to 10 over the past three years.

In making the announcement today, Chief Executive Officer, Mark St. Hill, noted that leading the regional Country Management team, is the bank’s newly appointed Chief Country Management Officer, Ms. Donna Wellington, formerly Managing Director for Barbados & OECS, under whom all country-related activities will be aligned.

Donna Wellington is no stranger to Caribbean banking, having joined CIBC 20 years ago, holding progressively senior roles in the bank. She served as CIBC Caribbean’s Managing Director for the eastern Caribbean region since 2013, and between 2016 and 2021 was President of the Barbados Bankers Association, Director in the Barbados Private Sector Association (BPSA) and an active participant in the Barbados Social Partnership. In this regard she represents the BPSA as a participant in the Social Partnership Oversight Committee tasked with oversight of the Sustainable Recovery Plan for Barbados.

Mr. St. Hill noted: “Donna’s vast knowledge of banking and her commitment to client service makes her the perfect choice for this role. We know that she will bring the same energy to developing our business in the rest of the region that she brought to managing our operations in Barbados and the OECS.”

Kemar Polius

He added: “This change to the organization’s structure will mean that our other current Managing Directors with responsibility for the bank’s Operating Companies will transition to different types of roles in the organisation. CIBC Caribbean’s Managing Directors in The Cayman Islands and Jamaica, Mark McIntyre and Nigel Holness will be appointed the Chairmen of the Cayman and Jamaica businesses respectively, while taking early retirement from their day-to-day duties.

“Additionally, our MD in The Bahamas, Dr. Jacqui Bend, will take early retirement and transition to an assignment designed to assist us in our transformation and governance programme, while our MD in Trinidad, Anthony Seeraj, will remain with the bank until the end of fiscal. During this time his new remit will be to help us secure a new Head of Country for Trinidad, while assisting in a number of business development activities in Trinidad, after which he too will take retirement. We are also undertaking a search for a new Head of Country in The Bahamas to succeed Dr. Bend.”

Mr. St. Hill went on to add: “We feel extremely fortunate that these hugely experienced individuals will continue to be a part of our team, albeit in different capacities. We are also excited to announce a further evolution of our talent of professionals, to meet the demands of the new CIBC Caribbean, as we have appointed a new crop of Heads of Country to take over in five of our jurisdictions.

  • Kemar Polius will succeed Ms. Wellington at the helm of the bank’s Barbados operations;

    Gemel Sobers

  • Gemel Sobers has been appointed the Head of Country for The Cayman Islands;
  • Annique Dawkins is the Head of Country for Jamaica;

All Heads of Country will report to our newly appointed Chief Country Management Officer.”  All appointments are subject to regulatory approval. St. Hill added: “We are shifting to a more country-focused performance model, having successfully optimized our geographical footprint from 17 countries to 10 and from 72 to 45 branches. This alignment emphasizes, at the country level, business development and performance, client facing activities and people leadership as we continue to embed our new corporate culture, which we started work on over the past year.”

He further explained that the new Heads of Country will prioritize the development of relationships, with staff, clients and within the community. “Our stated goal is to make our clients ambitions into reality. To do this, we must be closer to our clients, learning what they want from us and finding the best way to make it happen. A key component of that is ensuring our employees have the right tools, and the best working environment to deliver for our clients, so our Heads of Country will focus heavily on that, while ensuring we keep our commitment to contributing to the development of our communities.”

Annique Dawkins

The CIBC Caribbean CEO went on to list a number of major accomplishments of the regional bank over the past few years.  “We have rationalized and consolidated our geographical footprint since 2016. We have enhanced our client experience and made several other structural adjustments such as integrating all our business segments under one Chief Commercial Officer, centralized key functions, launched an Agile way of working to give us a greater competitive edge, centralized our digital sales through our LoanStore, and revamped our Call Centers into Contact Centers. This is one more piece of the puzzle as we continue to develop our business capabilities and effectiveness.”

The new changes to the organization become effective on 1st March 2025.

 

 

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Finance

Update on the Cost-of-Living Relief Programme: Sixth and Final Batch of Applications Successfully Processed

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Press Release

FROM THE Ministry of Finance, Investment & Trade

 

 

Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands, Wednesday, 29, January 2025: The Ministry of Finance, Investment, and Trade is pleased to announce the distribution of the final batch of cheques for the Cost of Living Relief Programme, commencing today Wednesday, 29 January 2025.

Approved applicants can collect their cheques at the Treasury on Providenciales, the Treasury on Grand Turk, or the sub-treasury on South Caicos and North Caicos. Collection times are Monday to Thursday from 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM, and Friday from 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM. Please remember to bring your reference number along with a valid form of identification for collection. Batch list can be viewed by visiting www.gov.tc.

Please be advised that cheques are for in-person collection only. There will be no deposits to any bank accounts for the Cost-of-Living Relief Programme.

For relief recipients who are disabled or confined to their home (in Turks & Caicos Islands), the Treasury will provide a cheque delivery service. To utilize this facility, approved applicants or his or her representative are asked to make a written request, for the delivery of the cheque to colreliefsupport@gov.tc.

The request must include the following:

  • a copy of the approved applicant Government Issued ID
  • application number
  • phone number and
  • address for the cheque to be delivered

Cheques will be valid for six (6) months from the printed date. All uncollected cheques will be voided and cancelled. Lost or stale dated cheques will not be reissued.

We appreciate your patience and support throughout this process. For further inquiries, please contact us at colreliefsupport@gov.tc.

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Bahamas News

CIBC Caribbean warns about ‘smishing’ scam

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Nassau, Bahamas, January 15, 2025 CIBC Caribbean has warned about an ongoing ‘smishing scam’ targeting clients in The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands.

It noted that fraudsters have been sending text messages to persons stating that their accounts were placed on hold or that their cards were locked and requesting them to click on a link and to enter their banking credentials in order to regain access to their accounts.

The bank has reiterated that it does not send out texts or SMS messages with links for clients to click on.

Clients who receive any communication with links should check that they are from a bona fide source prior to attempting to click on them.

The latest fraud attempt is a smishing scam and we are taking the necessary steps to report the fraudulent sites, the bank said.

Smishing occurs when fraudsters attempt to steal customers’ data or money through a text message that tries to trick them into following a link and revealing personal details or login information.

If you believe that you have encountered a suspicious message, just follow these simple tips.

Firstly, don’t click on any links or attachments and don’t reply to the message. Try and establish the legitimacy of the message by getting in contact with the organisation through alternative means, for example, calling the phone number on your printed statements.

If the sender claims to represent CIBC Caribbean, then forward the email as an attachment to our dedicated fraud team (fraud@cibcfcib.com) and delete the message from your system.

It is also a good idea to regularly review all your financial accounts and if you spot any irregularities, contact the bank immediately. Additionally, email security should be reviewed and consider changing your password to a stronger one, using a combination of characters, letters and numbers. Never share your internet banking log-in credentials or One-Time Verification Codes (OTVC) with anyone!

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