Saudi projects huge deficit as oil price drop bites

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) – Saudi Arabia announced a 2015 budget with a huge deficit Thursday as the world’s largest crude exporter begins to feel the impact of its own decision not to shore up oil prices.

The government announced the US$38.6 billion deficit on state-run television, saying it would nonetheless boost projected spending by tapping its vast financial reserves.

The lead producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Saudi Arabia has insisted the cartel will not move to strengthen global oil prices despite a drop of nearly 50 percent since June.

OPEC has maintained a production ceiling of 30 million barrels per day, in a move analysts say is aimed at stifling competition from new market players with higher costs, in particular North American shale oil producers.

Saudi officials have vowed not to boost production no matter how low prices go, regardless of the impact on the country’s coffers.

The budget announced for next year sees spending at 860 billion riyals (US$229.3 billion) and revenues at 715 billion riyals (US$190.7 billion).

Projected spending is slightly higher than planned for this year, but revenues are 140 billion riyals lower than estimates for 2014, said the statement read after a cabinet session chaired by Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz.

The 2015 budget shortfall is the first deficit projected by the OPEC kingpin since 2011 and the largest ever for the kingdom.

Finance Minister Ibrahim al-Assaf said the kingdom was in good enough shape to see out the downturn.

“The challenge was bigger than expected. We continued to revise the budget figures as oil prices dived,” Assaf told Saudi TV.

“Despite the deficit, we will continue to spend on development projects… We have the buffers to bear the drop.”

Assaf said everyone agreed oil would rebound and that it was only a question of when.

In the past decade, Saudi Arabia overspent budget projections by more than 20 per cent and if the trend is maintained next year, analysts say the deficit will be much higher.

“I believe we are headed for a difficult year in 2015. I think the actual deficit will be around 200 billion riyals because actual revenues are expected to be lower than estimates,” Saudi economist Abdulwahab Abu-Dahesh said.

“Spending in the budget is not in line with the sharp decline in oil prices.”

The finance ministry also announced the 2014 preliminary actual budget figures, saying it expects a deficit of 54 billion riyals, the first shortfall since 2009.

The ministry said that, according to the preliminary figures, revenues in 2014 were at US$278.9 billion, 22 per cent higher than projected.

But spending was at US$293.3 billion, the highest in the kingdom’s history and about US$33 billion more than expenditures in 2013.

The rise was due to huge expansion projects at Muslim holy sites in Mecca and Medina, an increase in spending on development and foreign aid.

The price of oil, which makes up around 90 percent of public income in Saudi Arabia, has lost about half of its value since June due to a production glut, weak global demand and a stronger US dollar.

In royal decrees issuing the budget, King Abdullah called for “rationalisation of spending” and for the “accurate and efficient implementation of the budget” in 2015.

If oil prices remain at the current level of about $60 a barrel for benchmark Brent crude, Saudi Arabia is expected to lose half of its oil revenues of $276 billion posted in 2013. Oil income this year is expected at $248 billion.

But the wealthy kingdom, which pumps about 9.6 million barrels per day, can easily tap into huge fiscal buffers, estimated at $750 billion, to meet the deficit.

King Abdullah authorised the finance minister to draw from the reserves or to borrow to meet the deficit.

Ratings agency Standard and Poor’s lowered its outlook for Saudi Arabia to stable from positive following the oil price slide.

But it also affirmed its high ratings for Riyadh over the “strong external and fiscal positions” it has built up in the past decade.

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Saudi projects huge deficit as oil price drop bites

Get Magnum Sting tickets for half price

The ‘greatest one night show’, Magnum Sting 2014, will be the only place to be on December 26. The event will see several of dancehall’s biggest acts, alongside some of reggae music’s best offerings.

For the thousands of persons who will be interested in attending the event, there will be an entrance fee of $2,000, presold $3,000 at the gate.

However, Magnum Sting in association with THE STAR is offering a one-day-only discounted ticket sale day on December 19.

On that day, a Mobile Ticket Bus will be travelling through areas in Kingston, St Andrew and St Catherine to give you a chance to purchase the discounted tickets for $1,500 with two copies of THE WEEKEND STAR.

Mobile Ticket Bus Locations on December 19

St Catherine

11 a.m. – Munamar Supermarket and Wholesale, 2 French Street, Spanish Town

12 p.m. – L.O.J Shopping Centre, Spanish Town

St Catherine

2 p.m. – Portmore Mall, Portmore

Kingston

3:30 p.m. – Parade, downtown Kingston

St Andrew

5 p.m. – Cross Roads, St Andrew

6:30 p.m. – Skateland, Half-Way Tree, St Andrew.

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Get Magnum Sting tickets for half price

Global coffee price soars

Jamaica‘s coffee industry could benefit from recent developments in respect of international price for the commodity.

Fears of persistent drought in Brazil sent a jolt through coffee commodity markets on Monday, when the price soared about 9%, contributing to a doubling over the last year. Weather forecasters see little relief  this month.    
Arabica coffee for December delivery settled on Monday at US$2,208 per lb.

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Global coffee price soars

Global coffee price soars

Jamaica‘s coffee industry could benefit from recent developments in respect of international price for the commodity.

Fears of persistent drought in Brazil sent a jolt through coffee commodity markets on Monday, when the price soared about 9%, contributing to a doubling over the last year. Weather forecasters see little relief  this month.    
Arabica coffee for December delivery settled on Monday at US$2,208 per lb.

View the original article here

Global coffee price soars

Ferguson charging high price for Brown case files - VIDEO: Ferguson officer shot

Sept. 24, 2014: Several hundred people pack a room on the St. Louis Community College Florissant Valley campus during a meeting held by the Department of Justice to talk about the agency’s investigation of the Ferguson police department (AP)

WASHINGTON –  Bureaucrats in Ferguson, Missouri, responding to requests under the state’s Sunshine Act to turn over government files about the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown, are charging nearly 10 times the cost of some of their own employees’ salaries before they will agree to release any records.

The move discourages journalists and civil rights groups from investigating the shooting and its aftermath.

The city has demanded high fees to produce copies of records that, under Missouri law, it could give away free if it determined the material was in the public’s interest to see. Instead, in some cases, the city has demanded high fees with little explanation or cost breakdown. It billed The Associated Press $135 an hour — for nearly a day’s work — merely to retrieve a handful of email accounts since the shooting.

That fee compares with an entry-level, hourly salary of $13.90 in the city clerk’s office, and it didn’t include costs to review the emails or release them. The AP has not paid for the search.

Price-gouging for government files is one way that local, state and federal agencies have responded to requests for potentially embarrassing information they may not want released. Open records laws are designed to give the public access to government records at little or no cost, and have historically exposed waste, wrongdoing and corruption.

“The first line of defense is to make the requester go away,” said Rick Blum, who coordinates the Sunshine in Government Initiative, a coalition of media groups that advocates for open government. “Charging exorbitant fees to simply cut and paste is a popular tactic.”

Since Brown’s death and ensuing protests, news organizations, nonprofit groups and everyday citizens have submitted records requests to Ferguson officials, asking for police reports, records about Brown and the personnel files of Officer Darren Wilson, who shot Brown Aug. 9.

Organizations like the website Buzzfeed were told they’d have to pay unspecified thousands of dollars for emails and memos about Ferguson’s traffic-citation policies and changes to local elections. The Washington Post said Ferguson wanted no less than $200 for its requests.

A city spokeswoman referred inquiries about public records requests to the city’s attorney, Stephanie Karr, who declined to respond to repeated interview requests from the AP since earlier this month.

Some states provide public records for free or little cost, while others like Missouri can require fees that “result in the lowest charges for search, research and duplication.” The AP asked for a fee waiver because it argued the records would serve the public interest, as the law allows, but that request was denied.

A spokesman for Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon referred questions about the high fees to the state’s attorney general, who handles freedom-of-information complaints. A spokeswoman for his office said none had been filed on the issue.

In late August, the AP asked Ferguson officials for copies of several police officials’ emails and text messages, including those belonging to Wilson and Chief Thomas Jackson. The AP sought those records to reveal the city’s behind-the-scenes response to the shooting and public protests.

Ferguson told the AP it wanted nearly $2,000 to pay a consulting firm for up to 16 hours of work to retrieve messages on its own email system, a practice that information technology experts call unnecessary. The firm, St. Louis-based Acumen Consulting, wouldn’t comment specifically on Ferguson’s contract, but said the search could be more complicated and require technicians to examine tape backups.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri filed a public records lawsuit days after the shooting for Brown-related police reports, but ultimately received a censored report that omitted officers’ names and other details usually released in such documents.

Jonathan Groves, president of the Missouri Sunshine Coalition and a former daily journalist, said that while public agencies can legally charge reasonable fees for records, an unfettered Sunshine Law is nonetheless an important tool “so that we have faith in what the government is doing.”

Other governments also have demanded spectacular fees. During the 2008 presidential campaign, for instance, news organizations asked for emails belonging to former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the former Republican vice presidential nominee.

The Anchorage Press said officials at first wanted $6,500 in search fees, leading the newspaper to withdraw its request. Thousands of pages of those emails were ultimately provided to news organizations for about $725 in copying charges.

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Ferguson charging high price for Brown case files - VIDEO: Ferguson officer shot

Alcoa optimistic about aluminium price

Alcoa, which is moving to sell its stake in Jamalco, is depending on an aluminum deficit to help its stock price continue the nearly 50-percent increase it’s seen so far this year.

Prices for the metal have risen about 10 per cent in 2014, and analysts predict a global aluminum deficit will correct years of  market saturation.

Aluminum’s good fortune has come as the automobile market has turned its attention to utilizing the light metal for producing cars.

Alcoa, which accounts for 7% of  the world’s aluminum output, has placed an emphasis on cutting production to help offset the surplus.

News came in June that Alcoa will pull out of  Jamaica within two years and sell its mining interests to Noble Group.

Alcoa has a 55 per cent stake in Jamalco, with the remaining 45 per cent held by the Government through its holding company Clarendon Alumina Production.

The plant is managed by Alcoa.

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Alcoa optimistic about aluminium price

Alcoa optimistic about aluminium price

Alcoa, which is moving to sell its stake in Jamalco, is depending on an aluminum deficit to help its stock price continue the nearly 50-percent increase it’s seen so far this year.

Prices for the metal have risen about 10 per cent in 2014, and analysts predict a global aluminum deficit will correct years of  market saturation.

Aluminum’s good fortune has come as the automobile market has turned its attention to utilizing the light metal for producing cars.

Alcoa, which accounts for 7% of  the world’s aluminum output, has placed an emphasis on cutting production to help offset the surplus.

News came in June that Alcoa will pull out of  Jamaica within two years and sell its mining interests to Noble Group.

Alcoa has a 55 per cent stake in Jamalco, with the remaining 45 per cent held by the Government through its holding company Clarendon Alumina Production.

The plant is managed by Alcoa.

View the original article here

Alcoa optimistic about aluminium price

Oil price dips further

Jamaican motorists could see a further decline in prices at the pumps in coming weeks.
Crude oil futures fell on Monday, as ample supply and slowing economic growth in Europe and China outweighed expectations of  a cut in oil output from the Organization of  Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).  
Brent crude for November delivery fell $1.42 to settle at $96.97 a barrel.

Fuel prices in Jamaica fell by a big margin last week. Petrojam cut the price of  gasoline by $2.47. It was the biggest decline in gas prices for a single week in 2 years.

Meanwhile, OPEC members, many of them needing oil prices above $100 a barrel to meet budgetary needs, will review oil output policy at a meeting on November 27.  
Many analysts expect OPEC to cut output to slow the recent price slide, but it is not clear how much impact a reduction willl have on prices at a time of  oversupply and high inventories.

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Oil price dips further

$10,000 price tag for skills certificate

BEGINNING April 1, persons applying for Caribbean Community (Caricom) Qualifying Skills Certificates will be required to pay fees for the processing and preparation of the documents.

Director of the Work Permit Department in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security Lisa-Ann Grant made the announcement Thursday, as she addressed a Jamaica Information Service (JIS) Think Tank.

Under Regulation 2 of the Caribbean Community (Free Movement of Skilled Persons) Act, persons will now be charged a non-refundable application fee of $2,000 for the issuance of a certificate.

In addition, there will be a processing fee of $8,000, and a further $2,000 for each dependent.

To have certificates amended, persons will have to pay $2,000, and in the event that a certificate has been lost, stolen or destroyed, applicants will be required to pay $3,000 to replace the document.

Grant told JIS News that additional security features will be placed on the certificates to reduce the incidence of fraud and improve the general quality of the documents.

Outlining the documents required to apply for a skills certificate, Grant listed a letter of verification from the relevant institution certifying that an applicant has completed the programme of study as represented on the qualifications, a police report from the country in which the applicant has been domiciled for the last three years; a birth certificate; and three passport-sized photographs.

“You will also need to provide for us a document showing a change of name if applicable, the bio-data page of your passport, or a copy of your naturalisation document, which will prove your nationality to a Caricom country,” she said.

“If your qualifications are not from a university as stated in the Act, then you are required to take these qualifications to the University Council of Jamaica, located at 6B Oxford Road, Kingston,” Grant added.

The institutions recognised in the Act are the University of the West Indies; the University of Technology; Northern Caribbean University; Mico University College; the University of Guyana; and the University of Suriname.

All photocopied documents submitted, the work permit director said, must be signed by a justice of the peace.

Currently, application forms are emailed to applicants once they provide the department with the relevant information. Grant said that over time, they will be made available on the websites of the ministries of labour and social security and foreign affairs and foreign trade.

Last year, 442 skills certificates were issued to Caricom nationals, with Jamaicans accounting for 411 of that number.

The Caribbean Community (Free Movement of Skilled Persons) Act establishes the legislative arrangements for free movement as required under the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas establishing the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME).

The CSME is intended to benefit the people of the region by providing more and better opportunities to produce and sell goods and services and to attract investment. The aim is to create one large market among the participating member states.

— JIS

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$10,000 price tag for skills certificate

Photo: The "Price" is right

Business

Friday, August 16, 2013

(From left) Mozido founder Michael Liberty and Mozido Jamaica CEO Kavin Hewitt listen to a point being made by LIME head of retail, Stephen Price. The occasion was the launch of the Jamaica Co-operative Credit Union League’s partnership with LIME, to make online mobile top-up available to its almost one million customers, held at the Terra Nova Hotel yesterday. (PHOTO: MARLON REID)(From left) Mozido founder Michael Liberty and Mozido Jamaica CEO Kavin Hewitt listen to a point being made by LIME head of retail, Stephen Price. The occasion was the launch of the Jamaica Co-operative Credit Union League’s partnership with LIME, to make online mobile top-up available to its almost one million customers, held at the Terra Nova Hotel yesterday. (PHOTO: MARLON REID)

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Photo: The "Price" is right