Regional News IMF approves US$105 million for Haiti

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved US$105m for Haiti under the Food Shock Window of the Rapid Credit Facility to help the Frenchspeaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country address urgent balance of payment needs related to the global food crisis.

Falling birth rates are driven by a range of factors, including rising living costs, more women in education and work, as well as greater access to contraception

Japan PM says country on the brink over falling birth rate

Japan’s prime minister says his country is on the brink of not being able to function as a society because of its falling birth rate.

Fumio Kishida said it was a case of “now or never.”

Japan - population 125 million - is estimated to have had fewer than 800,000 births last year. In the 1970s, that figure was more than two million.

Birth rates are slowing in many countries, including Japan’s neighbours.

But the issue is particularly acute in Japan as life expectancy has risen in recent decades, meaning there are a growing number of older people, and a declining numbers of workers to support them.

Japan now has the world’s second-highest proportion of people aged 65 and over - about 28% - after the tiny state of Monaco, according to World Bank data.

“Japan is standing on the verge of whether we can continue to function as a society,” Mr Kishida told lawmakers.

“Focusing attention on policies regarding children and childrearing is an issue that cannot wait and cannot be postponed.”

He said that he eventually wants the government to double its spending on child-related programmes. A new government agency to focus on the issue would be set up in April, he added.

However, Japanese governments have tried to promote similar strategies before, without success.

In 2020, researchers projected Japan’s population to fall from a peak of 128 million in 2017 to less than 53 million by the end of the century. The population is currently just under 125 million, according to official data.

Japan has continued implementing strict immigration laws despite some relaxations, but some experts are now saying that the rules should be loosened further to help tackle its ageing society.

The Washington-based financial institution said Haiti has been hit hard by the global food price shock. Record price inflation has worsened Haiti’s fragility given the high pass-through from global to domestic food prices and shortages in food supplies.

It said with more than half the population already below the poverty line, Haiti faces a dire humanitarian crisis, with an expected financing gap in this financial year of at least US$105 million or 0.5 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP), assuming import compression and pending additional external financing from development partners.

The IMF said that this shock compounds the hardships of an already highly fragile country, also suffering a public health emergency (cholera) and serious security risks.

“Haiti is facing a dire humanitarian crisis and was hit hard by the economic spillovers from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. These spillovers included record price inflation that worsened Haiti’s fragility and compounded the suffering of Haiti’s population already affected by a severe malnutrition,” said IMF Deputy Managing Director, Antoinette Sayeh.

She said measures are being taken by the government to cushion the impact of the food price shocks on the population and to expand

Prime Minister Gaston Browne names new Cabinet

PRIME Minister Gaston Browne Friday unveiled an eight member Cabinet that was sworn into office following Wednesday’s nail-biting general election that resulted in his ruling Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) being returned to office for a third consecutive occasion, but with a drastically reduced majority.

“I am not a fan of bringing individuals through the Senate to serve as ministers. I believe it is important to pay attention to the quality of the candidates who the people elect and who could also serve as ministers,” Browne told reporters at the swearing in ceremony. The ABLP won the general election by a 9-8 margin, down from the comfortable 15-2 majority it had enjoyed in the last Parliament.

Apart from the main opposition United Progressive Party (UPP) winning six seats-five more than it previously had- another successful candidate was Asot Michael, a former government minister who fell out with Prime Minister Browne and was prevented from contesting the St. Peter constituency on a ticket of the ruling party. Michael, who had been the parliamentary representative for the area over the past four general elections, won the seat as an independent candidate.

Browne told reporters that the government ministers who lost their seats in the general election, their portfolios have been consolidated among the eight new cabinet members with the veteran Sir Robin Yearwood, agreeing to serve as a government backbencher. He had held the position of senior minister in the last administration.

‘What we tried to do is to ensure that there were synergies within the respective consolidation that took place. For example, housing and works, the obvious synergy is there, even agriculture and trade.

“So I think we have achieved that and I am confident that even though the team is smaller that we will have a far more responsive team and the people of Antigua and Barbuda in essence will get from the social safety nets.

She said IMF emergency support under the food shock window of the Rapid Credit Facility will help fill the balance of payment gap and support those most affected by food price rises through feeding programmes and cash and in-kind transfers to vulnerable households, waives school fees and other measures.

“To address the crisis, budgetary resources will need to be allocated toward priority spending on food programs and to increase social assistance toward the most vulnerable. To ensure the appropriate use of emergency financing, which will be vital for catalysing further donor support and mitigate risks to debt sustainability, the authorities should carefully control, track, record, and publish all spending related to the emergency response.

Supported by close Fund engagement, they should undertake internal expenditure audits by all the line ministries involved in the use of emergency resources provided under the food shock window through the General Inspectorate of Finance and communicate these internal audits to the Supreme Audit Court in a timely way.”

Sayeh said the combination of appropriate macroeconomic and structural policies under the Staff-Monitored Program (SMP) provides additional safeguards for the Fund’s outstanding obligations. While providing adequate liquidity support to the financial sector, the central bank should reduce monetary financing of the deficit and limit foreign exchange interventions to smoothing volatility.

“The SMP is also catalytic to donor support. A successful implementation of Haiti’s SMP would be key in the process of restoring macroeconomic stability and sustainability, strengthening the social safety net, and tackling governance weaknesses and corruption,” she added. (Caribbeanloopnews.com) less,” he said. Prime

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