Economy
Over $400 million taken from pensions
(CNS): With just a few more weeks to go before the emergency pension fund withdrawal opportunity ends, Caymanians and residents have already taken over $400 million from their funds. Almost 34,000 successful applications were made to take money from pensions and over 71% asked for the full amount, which was $10,000 plus 25% of the […]
Gov’t to guarantee $millions in business loans
(CNS): The government has announced a new guaranteed loan programme to help prop up medium and larger businesses in the Cayman Islands through the current economic uncertainty. Finance Minister Roy McTaggart said it was to help businesses struggling to meet operating and capital expenditure and debt repayment or re-financing.
Imports plunge during lockdown
(CNS): The total value of imports slumped by more than 32% during the second quarter of this year when Cayman was under the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Despite the online shopping sprees during the stay-home order, buoyed by the pension payout during the last month of the quarter, all imports fell. Fuel imports declined in quantity […]
Pension payments paused until year-end
(CNS): The current holiday from the mandatory pension contributions by employers and workers in the private sector will now continue until at least the end of the year. However, the window of opportunity for people to access the funds they have in their pensions will not be extended and there will be no second go […]
$25M deficit better than expected
(CNS): Despite the uncertainty about the future economic fortunes of the Cayman Islands, so far public finances are doing better than expected. Government is now running at a monthly deficit of around $25 million but that is much lower than had been projected, according to Premier Alden McLaughlin. And with a line of credit about […]
2020 Census must wait for ‘normal’ year
(CNS): The Economics and Statistics Office has said that the national census, which had been set to take place next month, has been postponed, confirming comments by the finance minister that were previously reported on CNS. Because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Cayman Islands, the census, which usually takes place every […]
Hew: ICT and transport weakness are priorities
(CNS): The state of Cayman’s information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and public transport are priorities that government must address now to help business rebound in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Commerce Minister Joey Hew has said. The minister said that tackling these issues had already been on government’s agenda but it had to […]
Minister optimistic about 2021 recovery
(CNS): Finance Minister Roy McTaggart has predicted that the Cayman Islands’ economy will grow by 6.4% next year after the expected 7.2% decline in 2020, creating a v-shaped recovery. Speaking at the Chamber of Commerce 2020 Economic Forum on Friday, he said the growth estimates for 2021 were based on measures implemented by government to […]
COVID-19 recession could lead to tax
(CNS): Finance Minister Roy McTaggart has said that if the country runs out of reserves before the tourism sector and the world economy recovers, government may have to consider taxation. Though reluctant to use the word, he said that given the current situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, things could get very tough for the public […]
Government coffers still in the black
(CNS): Despite expectations of plummeting government revenue as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, so far this year the public coffers are still in the black. The unaudited core government financial results for the first six months of this year show that the surplus is considerably less than expected but government isn’t in the red […]
Imports grew by 13.5% in 2019
(CNS): The latest report from the Economics and Statistics Office shows that the total value of goods imported into the Cayman Islands last year was $1,183.3 million, an increase of 13.5% on figures for 2018. This is yet another statistic reflecting the booming economy before the COVID-19 health crisis struck. While fuel accounted for much […]
