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Whopping $86 Million to Health; Minister Malcolm outlines Spending

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By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer 

 

 

#TurksandCaicos, May 30, 2023 – The Health Ministry has hit the majority of its initiatives only two years into its term according to Shaun Malcolm, Minister of Health and Human Services, who also revealed how he will spend the $86 Million dollars allotted to his portfolio for 2023-2024 spending.

“In the Ministry of Health we have nine deliverables and we’ve already done seven and a half,” said the minister, referencing the PNP Citizen’s Contract. Those deliverables as listed in the contract are:

  • 1.Strengthen and improve the delivery of health care through the integrated health services delivery network (IHSDN)
  • 2. Upgrade the Grand Turk Primary Health Care (PHC) Clinic.
  • 3. Build a new central PHC in the Cheshire Hall community
  • 4. Build/upgrade the Public Health Laboratory
  • 5. Complete Phase II of the Wellness Center
  • 6. Build a Long-Term Hospice Care facility
  • 7. Build a Home to care for persons with mental health issues
  • 8. Expand Secondary and Tertiary care services within the hospitals to serve both the local and medical tourism population and reduce the need for treatment abroad
  • 9. Restructure the medical treatment abroad program to procure more cost-effective care

Stressing the theme “Embracing Service Integration; Building a Resilient Health System” Malcolm detailed how the Ministry would be spending the massive allotment, the third highest ministerial budget in the country.

While most of the money goes to the Treatment Abroad Program, also Included in the budget is:

$1.3 million for new ambulances

$1.6 million for Ambulance bays in Providenciales and Grand Turk

$200 000 for upgrades to the Eliza Basden Aged care center

$100,000 for the procurement of a wheelchair accessible van for the Centres

$600,000 for the establishment of an all new aged care center in the twin islands

$50,000 for Mental Health Facilities

Also slated for completion this year is the South Caicos Morgue and a new incinerator purchase to dispose of increasing levels of medical waste.

Armed with a new 3-year National Health Sector Strategy Plan, Minister Malcolm says his ministry will continue to move toward the advancement of Healthcare in the Turks and Caicos.

Finance

UK holds steady on interest rates 

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Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer 

 

#UnitedKingdom, September 24, 2023 – For the first time since 2021, the Bank of England has decided to ‘hold steady’ on interest rates rather than increase them.

The decision comes following an unexpected fall in inflation in the European country.

It means UK consumers’ interest rate remains at 5.25 percent.  According to the BOE reports tabled on September 21st, only 5 of the nine members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to keep the rate steady.

The Bank expects the inflation rate, currently at 6.7 percent, to reach the two percent target by mid-2025 and food inflation is going down.

But at the same time, the UK’s Gross Domestic Product GDP declined in July and growth is expected to stay weak, plus, unemployment is on the rise in the country.

“The Labour Force Survey unemployment rate rose to 4.3 percent in the three months to July, higher than expected in the August Report,” the bank explained.

The US also recently held steady on its interest rates after a significant period of increase.

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Finance

Canadian analysts watching for recession 

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Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

 

#Canada, September 9, 2023 – Financial analysts are watching the Canadian economy for the possibility of recession following a contraction in its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the second quarter of 2023, and a decision to keep interest rates at 5 percent.

The Bank of Canada decided to ‘hold steady’ on interest rates this Wednesday, a week after Information shared by Statistics Canada revealed the country’s GDP declined last quarter, failing to reach the over 1 percent growth that was predicted by economists.

“The slowdown was attributable to continued declines in housing investment, smaller inventory accumulation, as well as slower international exports and household spending,” Statistics Canada explained.

Central Banks in North American countries like Canada and the US have been hiking interest rates over the past year to balance out inflation. Both countries want inflation levels to remain at 2 percent.

A recession occurs when a market records negative GDP growth for two consecutive quarters. If Canada records another contraction in its GDP for the third quarter of the year, it will officially be considered to be in a recession.

In late 2022, the Royal Bank of Canada had predicted the country would fall into recession early this year because of cooling housing markets and high interest rates.

The country has not recorded a recession since the beginning of the pandemic.

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Finance

TCI Commercial Banks CAUTIOUS about LENDING, Report reveals

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By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

 

#TurksandCaicos, August 14, 2023 – Credit risk in the Turks and Caicos is decreasing; however, local banks are still very cautious with their lending practices, according to the latest annual report from the Turks and Caicos Financial Services Commission (2021-22).

The FSC Bank and Trust Department oversees the six banking institutions operating locally, their report indicated that the bank’s liquid assets grew massively because residents began to save more money.

“The increase in the sector’s assets was funded by customers’ deposits, which grew by 26.5 percent,” it said. That pushed assets between the six banks to $2.7 billion. Banks are turning a profit, just not as much as before COVID-19. Still, the cash was good enough that they could shutter loan loss provisions they had made.

Not only were customers depositing more money, but with the improved state of the local economy, residents wishing to borrow were resilient to the impact of COVID-19.

Also, fewer residents were defaulting on their loans, the FSC found, with a 29 percent drop in non-performing loans (loans in default), and because of that banks spent 40 percent less on provisioning (money used to cover loans in default). Only four percent of all the loans in the country were listed as non-performing, a decline from five point four (5.4) percent the period prior.

Despite this, fearing rising inflation, and health crises globally, banks responded with ‘conservative lending practices and risk appetites.’

This was at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Residents locally have complained bitterly about the difficulty they face in securing loans and Washington Misick, TCI Premier, has repeatedly put local banks on blast for de-risking and vowed to have the UK step in, to date there has been no change.

Meanwhile, five of the six banks recorded increases in assets and loan portfolios were smaller for four of them.

The FSC also revealed that with banks holding tight to the purse strings, an unregulated credit market had been allowed to flourish locally, which they said was a cause for concern.

“A growing non-bank lending market has emerged in the TCI, which creates competition for the banking sector. This increases the risk to the financial sector if left unregulated and should credit conditions deteriorate,” they explained.

Another concerning revelation is that Money Sending Businesses (MSBs), which are heavily patronized in the country because of the high level of expatriate workers, are taking a hit as well. This time because of high banking costs, de-risking and the emergence of alternate ways to send cash.

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