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  • MIL-OSI USA: Bennet, Neguse, Colorado Leaders Come Together to Oppose Hazardous Oil Trains Along the Colorado River

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Colorado Michael Bennet

    Denver — Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet and U.S. House Assistant Minority Leader Joe Neguse joined Colorado leaders to support Eagle County’s position before the U.S. Supreme Court in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado. Eagle County is urging the Court to uphold the August 2023 D.C. Circuit Court decision to overturn the Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) approval of the Uinta Basin Railway project based on flawed environmental review and violations of federal laws. Eagle County’s arguments are supported by amicus briefs filed by the Colorado Attorney General and a broad coalition of Colorado communities that would be affected by the proposed railway.

    “Anyone who has spent time along the Colorado River understands what the risks really are for our environment, our local economies, and our state. That’s why I’ve worked for years to urge federal agencies to adequately account for the full threat that the proposed Uinta Basin Railway poses to Colorado. This train has no business increasing the transport of hazardous oil from Utah through our state, and I’ll continue to stand with a broad coalition of local leaders and community members to oppose this dangerous project,” said Bennet. “I hope the Supreme Court seriously considers Eagle County’s arguments, the concerns raised by Colorado’s Attorney General and numerous local governments in their amicus briefs, and the implications for those most deeply affected by a potential derailment in the headwaters of the Colorado River.”

    “The Uinta Basin Railway Project poses a significant threat to our state’s water resources, wildlife habitats, outdoor recreation, and the broader interests of the Colorado River Basin. With these concerns and the well-being of our communities at the forefront, Senator Bennet and I have led an effort for years opposing this project,” said Neguse. “As the Supreme Court prepares to hear Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado, we stand united with the community and local leaders in opposing this rail line and protecting our shared environment.” 

    In their brief, Eagle County argues that the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) has long required agencies to consider the “reasonably foreseeable” environmental consequences of their actions, which was codified in recent amendments to the Act. Eagle County further argues that the proposed railway project and the miles of oil trains traveling through Colorado each day will foreseeably affect Eagle County – namely, through increased wildfire risk and the potential for oil spills from train accidents.  

    If completed, the Uinta Basin Railway would enable the shipment of up to 4.6 billion gallons of waxy crude oil per year from Utah through Colorado to the Gulf Coast on as many as five trains per day. These trains would run over 100 miles directly alongside the headwaters of the Colorado River – a vital water supply for nearly 40 million Americans, 30 Tribal nations, and millions of acres of agricultural land. A train derailment that spills oil in the headwaters of the River would be catastrophic to Colorado’s water supplies, wildlife habitat, and outdoor recreation. In addition, an accident on the proposed railway would also increase wildfire risk as the West faces a 1,200-year drought.

    “The downline effects of the Uinta line within Eagle County, and our state as a whole, are potentially catastrophic. These potential impacts, including significant wildfire and safety risks, and pollution to the Colorado River, should be fully and thoughtfully considered. We are confident the Supreme Court will agree with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals decision to invalidate the Uinta approval for failing to consider those and other impacts,” said Matt Scherr, Commissioner, Eagle County.

    “The Colorado River is among the most critical natural resources in our state—and our most critical water source. The risk to our state and others from shipping hundreds of thousands of oil barrels along the river daily is significant—from wildfires caused by rail track sparks and oil car leaks contaminating the river to, at worst, derailments, and spills. The risk of harm to our state and mountain communities and others affected by this rail line are simply too great to ignore. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals was correct to throw out this project’s approval for not having fully grasped the magnitude of its impacts to the environment. The Supreme Court should apply the letter of our federal laws and uphold the appellate court’s decision,” said Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser.

    “It is imperative that the Supreme Court recognize that communities along the Colorado River would be impacted by the proposed Uinta Basin Railway and the ensuing downline effects caused by additional miles-long trains filled with heavy waxy crude oil. As our amicus brief explains, the National Environmental Policy Act is a crucial tool giving voice to communities like Glenwood Springs that stand to bear the environmental and economic consequences that such a project can have on our rivers and public lands and the businesses that depend upon them. We hope that the justices will consider our communities’ unique perspectives in these vital economic matters,” said Ingrid Wussow, Mayor, City of Glenwood Springs.

    “Water is an important part of the Western Slope way of life. Protecting our waters is crucial for maintaining healthy ecosystems, supporting Colorado’s outdoor recreation industry, and ensuring the foundation for Colorado’s agricultural economy. The Uinta Basin Railway project will send hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil along the Colorado River, posing a major threat to this water source that over 40 million Americans rely on. A Supreme Court ruling will have significant implications for the future of the Colorado River, and I hope the justices consider the long-term impacts this project could have on Colorado’s environment and our communities,” said Julie McCluskie, Colorado State Representative and Speaker of the House.

    “I continue to stand in strong support of Eagle County’s demand for a robust environmental review of this proposed project and commend their efforts in bringing this need for accountability all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court,” said Dylan Roberts, Colorado State Senator. “My constituents in Eagle County and all along the Colorado River deserve the very highest protection of our water and I am proud to be amongst many national, state, and local leaders and governments in supporting Eagle County’s effort.”

    “The Colorado River is the heart of Garfield County. A train derailment from the Uinta Project would have catastrophic environmental consequences on our agricultural and recreational communities. Given the potential impacts to my constituents’ livelihoods, we need to alleviate people’s fear and provide a full environmental review before this project moves forward. I understand that energy security equals national security, however protecting the communities I represent is just as important,” said Perry Will, Colorado State Senator.

    “Water is the lifeblood of the Western Slope, supporting daily household needs, tourism, agriculture, local economies and everything in between. Keeping Colorado’s waterways clean is essential and the Uinta Basin Railway will jeopardize our freshwater supply. I stand alongside the people of Eagle County and the more than 40 million Americans who rely on the Colorado River for fresh, clean water – our way of life depends on it. I hope the Supreme Court recognizes the gravity of the situation and the impact their ruling will have on our community,” said Meghan Lukens, Colorado State Representative.

    “The people of my district would be hugely impacted, and they deserve better. The Uinta Basin Railway would double the amount of oil transported by rail in the U.S. and increase hazardous materials transport TENFOLD right through our communities. It puts our lives at risk: the potential for catastrophic wildfire, water contamination and accidents is too great. Our jobs, our wildlife, our ranches and our drinking water are threatened,” said Elizabeth Velasco, Colorado State Representative. “This project should never have been approved in the first place. I support Glenwood Springs filing an Amicus Brief to urge the Supreme Court to support our communities and the industries that rely on the Colorado River Basin and reject this dangerous effort to send significantly more shipments of oil through Glenwood Canyon, and through the heart of small towns in Garfield County.” 

    “Although we understand that oil needs to be transported from point A to point B, we are also the headwaters of the Colorado River. We have significant concerns about the impact a derailment and spill in Grand County would have on the ability to deliver clean, high-quality water to our own communities, and those throughout Colorado. Additionally, a waxy crude spill in Grand County would be catastrophic to our recreation- and ag-based economy,” said Merrit Linke, Chair of Board of County Commissioners, Grand County.

    “Routt County is proud to support Eagle County and their effort to ensure rail safety and the protection of the Colorado River Basin. As this case makes its way through the legal system, it is apparent that the approval process for the Uinta Basin Railway did not fully consider the significant risks to Colorado’s communities, our precious water resources, and the environment. Routt County continues to stand with so many of our local government colleagues in support of Eagle County,” said Sonja Macys, Commissioner, Routt County.

    “America doesn’t need Uinta’s low quality, dirty oil, and 40 million Americans who depend upon the Colorado River certainly do not need the catastrophic consequences of the inevitable oil train derailment in the Glenwood Canyon. Citizens of western Colorado and Utah deserve better. Pitkin County stands with Eagle County in defending our river and our livelihood from this train wreck of a plan,” said Greg Poschman, Chair of the Board of County Commissioners, Pitkin County. 

    “Boulder County is proud to stand with Eagle County and a bipartisan coalition of local governments and communities who oppose the construction of a railway that will bring railcars brimming with crude oil through pristine Colorado landscapes. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals correctly determined that the Surface Transportation Board violated the National Environmental Protection Act by failing to consider the environmental impacts of the proposed railway. Given the risks of train derailment for miles-long oil trains traveling through difficult mountainous terrain, Boulder County is justifiably concerned about accidents, wildfires, river contamination, and destruction of private property inevitably caused by the Surface Transportation Board’s decision. The briefing before the U.S. Supreme Court demonstrates that the D.C. Circuit court’s decision should be upheld and that federal law requires further evaluation and analysis before the railway can be approved,” said Claire Levy, Marta Loachamin, and Ashley Stolzmann, Commissioners, Boulder County. 

    “Chaffee County Board of County Commissioners wishes to reiterate our strong opposition to the proposed activation and expansion of the Uinta Basin Railway (UBR) Project. Chaffee County leadership share the common opinion of others directly within the path and “downline” of the UBR corridor that the risks of transporting hundreds-of-thousands of barrels of toxic waxy crude oil through our mountain communities are simply too great for our residents and for the millions of visitors that journey to experience our region each year.” said P.T. Wood, Commissioner, Chaffee County.

    “As representatives of the City of Grand Junction and its residents, we know the importance of ensuring that our community’s interests are considered during the regulatory process for any project with the potential to have a significant impact on communities like ours. We urge the honorable United States Supreme Court to uphold the rulings of two lower courts, and simply ensure that down-line impacts of the proposed project are taken into account during the NEPA process,” said Abram Herman, Mayor, City of Grand Junction.

    “Minturn is thankful for the ongoing support from Senator Bennet in his effort to protect our environmental future. The outcome of this issue is collectively important to the communities of Eagle County and Senator’s Bennet’s commitment to our goals has been outstanding,” said Earle Bidez, Mayor, Town of Minturn.

    “Opening up the rail line along the Colorado River for oil transportation is a guaranteed water quality catastrophe that will impact millions who are dependent on the Colorado River,” said Eric Heil, Manager, Town of Avon. 

    “Red Cliff, Colorado, a town of 280 residents nestled between Beaver Creek and Vail along the Colorado Scenic Byway (Highway 24), is deeply concerned about the potential impact of a railroad coming through our town, particularly near the waterways and natural areas we rely on. As a community surrounded by pristine wilderness, we understand all too well the dangers that a single wildfire can pose, not only to our tourism-based economy but also to the health and safety of our residents. The risk of a train derailment or sparks from passing trains igniting a wildfire is especially alarming, given the dense fuel loads in and around Red Cliff. Even more concerning is the potential derailment of trains carrying crude oil, which could result in catastrophic damage to our environment—particularly to our water quality, a vital resource for both residents and wildlife. Any of these types of events could devastate our water supply, cause landslides, debris flows, and road closures, and cripple our town’s economy for years to come. We urge policymakers to take these concerns seriously and prioritize measures that mitigate both wildfire risks and environmental threats posed by rail transport,” said Duke Gerber, Mayor, Town of Red Cliff.

    “The Town of Crested Butte has joined the amicus brief in support of Eagle County’s work to ensure appropriate environmental review of federal actions through the National Environmental Protection Act, or NEPA. It is understandable why the residents of Eagle County want to have full disclosure of federal decision-making. Trains traveling through a complicated mountain terrain will be carrying oil that if spilled, could pollute streams, increase the risk of wildfire, and undercut private property values. More generally, while NEPA does not require a particular outcome to a decision-making process, it has been fundamental to laying bare the logic of federal decisions. Why would anyone think that it is in the best interests of our communities and private property values to let the government make decisions without disclosing the impacts of those decisions? Anybody who is worried about the heavy hand of government should take pause with how the Surface Transportation Board failed to go through the NEPA process,” said Ian Billick, Mayor, Town of Crested Butte.

    “What happens in one place in the Colorado watershed affects all communities that are located within the watershed. That is why the Town of Basalt is proud to sign onto the amicus brief in support of Eagle County’s position before the Supreme Court. Protecting the waters that support our communities is paramount to our economy and our way of life. The proposed Uinta Basin Railway would jeopardize all of that,” said David Knight, Mayor, Town of Basalt. 

    “The Colorado River is one of our state’s most vital resources, and the risk posed by transporting large quantities of oil along its banks is too great to ignore. From potential fires and oil spills to devastating derailments, the consequences for our water, wildlife, and local economies could be catastrophic. The D.C. Circuit Court’s decision to reject the project’s approval was necessary to protect these resources, and we urge the Supreme Court to uphold it,” said Alyssa Shenk, Council Chair, Northwest Colorado Council of Governments.

    An amicus brief submitted in support of Eagle County was signed by the municipalities of Glenwood Springs, Grand Junction, Minturn, Avon, Red Cliff, Crested Butte, and Basalt, and Grand, Routt, Boulder, and Pitkin Counties, as well as the Northwest Colorado Council of Governments. 

    Bennet and Neguse have consistently raised concerns about the proposed Uinta Basin Railway and its risks to Colorado’s communities, water, land, air, and climate. In January, Bennet and Neguse applauded the U.S. Forest Service’s withdrawal of their Record of Decision that would have authorized the issuance of a special use permit for the Uinta Basin Railway. In August 2023, the lawmakers also welcomed the D.C. Circuit Court’s decision to overrule STB approval of the project, vacating their environmental review, and ordered a new review. Leading up to these decisions, Bennet and Neguse led several letters to federal agencies urging additional environmental review of the risks to Colorado from the proposed project – including to the Council on Environmental Quality in July 2022, and to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the Environmental Protection Agency in March 2023.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Transcript of Western Hemisphere Economic Outlook October 2024 Press Briefing

    Source: International Monetary Fund

    October 25, 2024

    PARTICIPANTS:

     

    RODRIGO VALDES

    Director of Western Hemisphere Department

    International Monetary Fund

     

    ANA CORBACHO

    Deputy Director ofWestern Hemisphere Department

    International Monetary Fund

     

    LUIS CUBEDDU

    Deputy DirectorWestern Hemisphere Department

    International Monetary Fund

     

    JULIE ZIEGLER

    Senior Communications Officer

    International Monetary Fund

     

      

    MS. ZIEGLER: Good morning.  Welcome everyone.  This is the press briefing for the Regional Economic Outlook for the Western Hemisphere.  My name is Julie Ziegler, and I am with the Communications Department at the Fund.  I’m going to introduce our panel today.  To my immediate left is Rodrigo Valdes, who.  the Director of the Western Hemisphere Department.  And he is joined by his Deputies, Ana Corbacho and Luis Cubeddu.  So, we are going to start with some opening remarks from Rodrigo, and then after that I will have some housekeeping items, and we will take your questions.  

     

    MR. VALDES: Thank you, Julie.  And good morning to everyone.  Welcome to this press briefing.  We have just released, and it is on the internet, our Annual Regional Economic Outlook for the Western Hemisphere.  This is a bit like the WEO, but for the region.  And here we have two important messages, two key messages.  

     

    The first one is that there is a need to rebalance macroeconomic policies in the region.  And the second one is the urgency to press on with structural reforms to boost potential output growth.  And I will explain this.  The monetary policy part of the first message, the rebalancing applies to several of the flexible exchange rate and inflation targeting countries in the region with different degrees of intensity.  The second message, the urgency to deepen reforms for growth, really applies to almost all economies in the region.  

     

    Over the last few years, the region has successfully weathered a series of major shocks in the world economy.  They showed resilience and they have adopted really macroeconomic policies in most countries that are at the top of the frontier of what we know.  And so far, largely the region has stayed in the sidelines, on the sidelines of global geopolitical tensions.  

     

    Now growth in the region is moderating as most economies are operating back near their potential.  What is concerning, however, growth in most countries is expected to return to its low historical average and this will not help with the region’s macroeconomic, fiscal and social challenges.  Overall, we expect growth in Latin America and the Caribbean — if we exclude Argentina, which has an important rebound next year, and Venezuela with its own dynamics — growth will moderate from 2.6 in 2023 to 2.2 in 2025, going through 2.6 also this year, 2024.  So we’re going back to the lower part of the 2 percent around these baseline projections.  We see the risks to near-term growth tilted to the downside, partly reflecting global risks, including importantly the persistent geopolitical tensions.

     

    Turning to inflation, in line with global trends and also reflecting the effect of tight policies, inflation has fallen markedly since the peak of mid-2022, and it is near the target in most countries.   However, it is not a target almost everywhere.  In the region, I would say that the last mile of this inflation has been rather long.   We expect to continue to see easing of monetary policy, but gradually on account of sticky services and inflation expectations not being perfectly re-anchored and also because inflation risks are generally tilted to the upside, reflecting basically commodity price volatility — the factors that I mentioned before of geopolitical risks and also new risks of fiscal slippages.  

     

    So, with the output gap and inflation gap mostly closed, what should policymakers do?  We think that they need to focus on rebuilding policy space and working on boosting potential growth – the messages I mentioned at the beginning.  This means rebalancing the policy mix and pushing forward with structural reforms.  

     

    Let me elaborate a bit more on the policy mix.   The current combination of macro policies is generally not everywhere, but generally tilted toward tight monetary policy while fiscal policy remains loose.  Although the earlier tightening of monetary policy by the region’s central banks was essential to bring inflation down, inflation is now close to target while monetary policy rates remain elevated in many countries.  At the same time, however, public debt levels are high and will continue raising if we do not have fiscal consolidation.  

     

    So, at this juncture it is necessary to rebalance policies, starting with strengthening public finances.  Most countries have quite ambitious fiscal consolidation plans, but their implementation –so from plans to reality — has been in such a way that they have been pushed back.  It is crucial in the region that these plans proceed without further delays to rebuild the buffers while protecting priority public spending, investment, and social spending.  Strengthening the current fiscal rules is also important so they can deliver these consolidation objectives.  

     

    A timely implementation of this fiscal consolidation is critical not only for fiscal sustainability, but also for supporting the normalization of monetary policy and the credibility of the frameworks more broadly.  With fiscal policy moving in the right direction, most central banks will be well placed to proceed with the monetary policy easing that we expect, while remaining on guard, of course, against risks of reemerging price pressures.  

     

    Let me now speak about the second point, that is the need to press with structural reforms and I will go from need to urgency.   As mentioned before, medium-term growth is expected to remain subdued, reflecting longstanding unresolved challenges which include low investment and especially low productivity growth.   Also, the region is suffering shifting demographics that will slow growth further.  The labor force is growing less than before, and this will weaken one essential engine for growth.  The impediments for growth are many and country specific, some are more common, and that reality is confronted with an ongoing reform agenda that is thin in many countries.  This could lead to a vicious cycle of low growth, social discontent and populist policies.  So greater efforts to advance with structural reforms are needed to boost potential growth and raise living standards.  

     

    We see that strengthening governance is a priority that cuts across all areas of growth.  This includes, for example, reinforcing the rule of law, improving government effectiveness, and, importantly, tackling crime more efficiently.   Improving the business environment and public investment is also needed to increase overall investment.  While reducing informality and making labor markets more attuned to more productivity gains is important.  This part of the labor market is also really important for women labor force participation, because this is one of the sources to offset the demographic headwinds.  

     

    These reforms will also be essential in positioning the region to fully harness the benefits of the global green transition and new technological advances.  It is disappointing that until now mining investment, for example, in the region has not picked up despite the new opportunities for green minerals.  This suggests, and I quote here, “we can do better,” as the IMF Managing Director stressed in her initial annual meeting speech, that also applies to our region.  

     

    From our side, through policy advice, capacity development, and financial support, we are ready to continue engaging, supporting countries in their efforts to strengthen their macroeconomic frameworks and increase economic resilience and growth opportunities.  

     

    With this, let me stop here and we are ready to take your questions.  Julie.

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Thank you.  Before we take questions, let me please just go through a few housekeeping items.  I want to remind everyone first of all that this is on the record.  Also, as Rodrigo mentioned, the report has just been published for the Western Hemisphere Regional Economic Outlook and you can find it on imf.org.  

     

    So, when we go to your questions, I ask please that you raise your hand, that you state your name and your affiliation, and if you are online, please can you keep your cameras on.  We cannot go to you unless your camera is on.  So, I appreciate it if you keep your cameras on.

     

    Finally, please keep your questions brief.  We are going to start, as in practice in the past, with questions on the region, meaning the entire region, Western Hemisphere or the Caribbean.  We will get to country questions after that.  Please bear with us, but we would like to start with questions from the region — on the region.  

     

    Does anybody have a region-specific question?   Yes, please.  

     

    QUESTIONER: A question about protectionism.  How do you see the growing threat of resurgent protectionism, threat to macroeconomy and to markets as well?  And how do — how should the region prepare for that?   And then maybe another thing on insecurity, which is another theme as well.  How could it deter or curb investment in the region insecurity, please?   

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Do we have any other questions on the region?  Please. The lady in the back.

     

    QUESTIONER: Thank you.  How are you analyzing the effect of the U.S. election and potential tariffs on emerging markets, particularly on interest rates and capital flows?  And on Latin America, do you think the fiscal stimulus measures in the region are compromising the efforts of central banks in combating inflation?  And does it endanger years of macro stabilization?   Thank you.  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Okay, one more.  

     

    QUESTIONER: I am sorry, The Financial Times has an article out just this morning saying that the EU is accelerating — well, within the block — accelerating or rating contingency plans for a possible Trump presidency.  The German Institute — Economic Institute — in Cologne says that a trade war could hit GDP growth in Germany by about 1.5 percent.  And I think Goldman Sachs has a forecast saying that the euro could fall by about 10 percent if those tariffs move forward.  So, I’m wondering if that is the biggest threat.  And then secondly, on outlook, I thought there would be a lot more optimism since inflation is decelerating — in the euro area and interest rates are being cut.  That — would lower the cost of borrowing and actually spur investment there.  So, if you could share your thoughts on that. Thank you.  

     

    MR. VALDES: Okay, so — let me start from the last question.  Why we are not more optimistic in the medium run given that inflation is coming to targets?  Reality is that there are two forces here.  The cycle around the trend and that part of the cycle has been readily well managed in the region.  We are back — to trend.  But that trend, unfortunately, is not very strong in terms of growth.  That does not depend on macro policies in the short run.  Macro policies can produce a stable environment, can facilitate that growth.  But ultimately it is investment.  It is the accumulation of capital, productivity, the labor force, what produces — that trend.  And there is this call for you need, the region, needs to refocus from micromanagement that was very important the last few years to this low trend because we are hitting capacity basically.  And this is across the region.  It’s the Caribbean.  It is Latin America.  Perhaps Central America.  A few countries are the higher growing countries right now because exactly that, because they have a bigger trend.  

     

    That brings me to the issue of trade for the region.  Trade is very important.  These are almost all open economies, small open economies.  I have to say, on trade at first, the region has been very protective of open trade.  If you look at measures against trade and across the globe, the region has been the ones that have put less constraints to that.  

    Second, in terms of the election, as we always say, we would not speculate on that.  No, that is not something that is a role of the Fund.  But what we can say is that open trade is good for the region depending on how is fragmentation at the end, if it happens.  Further fragmentation, where is the circles where is the near shoring, for example.  Some countries may even benefit, but others may suffer.  But we do not know yet.  What I can say though is that for this trend growth, open global economy is better for the region.  

     

    Two more things.  Security.  This is an issue that has been a new concern, I would say, for the macroeconomy.  We have — some estimates that this matters.  Matters for growth.  Matters for investment, and especially matters for the well-being of people.  So it’s something that in the region at least is top of mind — for households.  And . need to take it very, very seriously. It has macro impact in the region.  We will have a conference, by the way, in November on this precisely.  It’s not that we will become experts on this, but we want the financial community to be more on top of these issues.  

     

     And finally, let me mention this tension — fiscal-monetary policy.  I do not think it is the case that we are in a position that we are risking the two decades of very strong work that we have gained.   But at the same time, we are not well-balanced.  On average, some countries are better, some countries — less good.  A good balance between monetary policy and fiscal policy.   

     

    Debt dynamics are such that debt-to-GDP is increasing.  Plans are good, but they have been postponed in many countries.  So, we need to deliver on those.  And that will produce this opportunity to continue also easing monetary policy.  We have said that this is like a tango, and it is not an easy tango to have between the central bank and the Ministry of Finance.  But it is needed, this coordination. 

     

    Let me stop there. I do not know if my colleagues would like to add anything on this in general.  No?   Perfect.  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: So before we go, just last call for regional.  These are on the region, not country specific All right, go ahead.  In the center.   

     

    QUESTIONER: Thanks very much. Just this is the 80th anniversary of the Bretton Woods institutions.  For most of that period, Washington-based financial institutions have had pretty much a monopoly on lending to Latin America.  We have just had a BRICS conference in Russia.  BRICS have a development bank.  There are other alternatives for Latin American countries for finance and development.  How does the IMF feel about that?  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Okay, maybe one more on the region. Okay, go ahead.  Right there.   

     

    QUESTIONER: Hi, good morning. Of course, there have been some glowing words about how Caribbean countries have handled their policies over the past couple of years.  But of course, we also know that several Caribbean countries are vulnerable, particularly as a result of climate change.  So, my question is, what policies or what reforms can we see that will help provide a buffer with regard to climate activity that has been affecting the Caribbean?  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Okay.

     

    MR. VALDES: Okay. Look, reality is that we have been working for years with other partners in terms of regional arrangements.   We have Development Banks in the region, the IADB, we have CAF, we have FLAR (Latin American Reserve Fund) as another arrangement that lends money to central banks.  So perhaps the issue here is not whether we have these new institutions, but how to coordinate well.  We are convinced that the more coordination, the less fragmentation, that everybody works together is better.  Nobody needs the monopoly of this, but we need to work together.

     

    In terms of the Caribbean, I will ask Ana to go a bit more in detail. But it is very important to face reality for the Caribbean.  And they are doing it.  There’s a striking number.  Countries in the Caribbean lose 2.5 percent of GDP in capital per year, on average.   It does not happen every year, but every 10 years you can have a 25 percent loss.  So, you have to be prepared for that.  And that means that fiscal policy has to be geared towards that.   This is a multilayer system.  You have to be careful with investment.   Investment has to be more resilient.   You have to work in the insurance side, in contingency bonds, for example.  So, there is a lot to do.  Some countries have been very good on that.  Let me take the case of Jamaica and the last hurricane.  They had some possibilities to use contingencies for that case.  

     

    But let me pass to Ana to add a bit.  

     

    MS. CORBACHO: Thank you.  Certainly, the Caribbean region is very vulnerable to climate change shocks.  And we are concerned that the patterns of these shocks may be changing, becoming more severe and more frequent, which certainly requires more action on the government side and the multilateral community to support Caribbean economies.   

     

    In particular on policy measures, what we have emphasized in our dialogue is the need to integrate better mitigation and adaptation strategies in public investment plans.  Also fostering more active participation of private finance in increasing investment for climate resilience, as well as reducing the consumption of fuels through electrification.  An upside for the Caribbean is the green energy transition.  It could certainly give countries a chance to enhance resilience by investing in renewable energies, and through that, boosting competitiveness and lower exposure to climate change shocks.  Thank you.  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Great. We are going to take some questions online.  She says the IMF reduced the growth prospects for Mexico.   Could you tell me about the greatest risk that my country faces and the possibilities to grow a little more?  

     

    We have another one. She said, is it possible for Mexico to achieve the reduction of the fiscal deficit from 6 percent to 3 percent as the government intends, while maintaining spending on social transfer programs and energy subsidies?  

     

    So, while we are on Mexico, anybody else on Mexico in the room?  Please go ahead.  Wait — for the mic, please.    

     

    QUESTIONER: A bit more about violence and the risk that it poses to all the general policies, the challenges.  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Thank you. 

     

    MR. VALDES: Well, let me first say that we are in the middle of the Article IV process with Mexico.  So you will have a lot of details after it goes through the Board and the Article IV is published.  You probably have seen also the concluding statement published a couple of weeks ago.  But I can add a couple of things here.  One, we see bottlenecks in certain areas, and energy is one.  Infrastructure more generally as something that is a constraint right now in Mexico to take more advantage of — the opportunities it has with nearshoring and other possibilities.  The government is working on this, and we support fully that these are constraints that need to be alleviated.  

     

    In terms of fiscal, I would not want to make any… I mean, let us wait — for the budget. There is always the possibility, as we mentioned in the concluding statement, of have revenue mobilization at some stage.  We see, though, very importantly that there are steps towards consolidation.

     

    In terms of violence.  Look, here, I think we need to recognize that macroeconomists at least do not know a lot about how violence has impacts on the economy and the economy on violence.  So, I think it is very important to invest more knowledge on this.  Our own estimates – and this is a broad estimate – it’s not for Mexico specifically, but if the region were able to cut by half the difference it has between homicides suffering to the level of the world economy, growth could increase about half a percentage point for a good 10 years.  And that is more or less aligned with other estimates that are around.  So, in terms of the macro, this is something that is important.  

     

    Now, easier said than done because then the next question is what to do.  And there is where I would not want to make any comment because — we really, as macroeconomists, know very little. But we know that it’s important.  

     

    QUESTIONER: Good morning.  Can you hear me?  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: We can hear you.  If you bear with us, we can’t see you yet.

     

    QUESTIONER: Good morning, Julie. Good morning, Mr. Valdes. The projection for Ecuador is 0.3 percent in 2024.  We want to know if the projection includes the energy crisis in Ecuador that has worsened with power outages of up to 14 hours.  What impact can the energy crisis have in Ecuador?   And do you feel that it will affect the fiscal goals of the extended facility program that Ecuador has?  Is there a possibility of a recession this year?   

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Thank you. We have also we had questions submitted on Ecuador from Evelyn Tapia from PROMESA.  Does Ecuador’s growth projection for 2024 and 2025 include the effects of the electricity crisis that the country is experiencing?  When is the review of the program’s goals expected to end so that the country can receive the second disbursement for the Fund?  And when would that disbursement be made effective?   

     

    Ecuador? Anything else?  Okay.

     

    MR. VALDES: Okay, so everybody to be on the same page. Ecuador has a program with the Fund, an EFF, and we are close to have the First Review of the program.  I will ask Ana to go into more details on the growth considerations and other considerations you may want to add.  But let me just say that the authorities have been implementing this very strongly.  So — we are very optimistic, at least from the side of the commitment from the authorities on their own program that has been supported — by the Fund.  There will be a mission soon for this Review.  And of course, this new shock about electricity that has to do with climate, again — is bad news.  At the same time, the first half of the year was a bit stronger than expected.  

     

    But let me ask Ana to elaborate.  

     

    MS. CORBACHO: Thank you, Rodrigo.  I want to emphasize, as Rodrigo did, that the authorities are making very strong progress in advancing their stabilization program.  They have taken very important fiscal measures that are already showing results with an improvement in their fiscal position.  And we also see liquidity conditions, and notably the reserve position of the country, being stronger than we had expected when we approved the program in May.  

     

    Now Ecuador faces a very difficult electricity crisis with the worst drought in many decades.  The situation is still unfolding, but we would expect that it would have an impact both on economic conditions and fiscal needs.  And as we have more information, we may need to revise then the growth outlook for ’24 and ’25.  As of now, because the first part of the year was stronger than we had expected, we actually increased our forecast for 2024 growth from 0.1 to 0.3 percent.  

     

    In terms of the program, we expect that this would be discussed at the board by the end of the year, and upon completion of that review, if it is successful, there would be availability of the second disbursement in the program of $500 million.  Thank you.  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Now let us turn to Argentina. And we will take a bunch of questions.  Don’t worry.  

     

    QUESTIONER: Hi, good morning.  Thank you very much for taking my question.  My first question will relate — related that yesterday Kristalina Georgieva had a meeting with our Economy Minister, Luis Caputo.  Can you tell us what were the conversation and is coming very soon a mission to Argentina?  Just to the review of Nine and Ten Review.  Thank you very much.  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Thank you. I am going to take a few questions in the room first.  Please go ahead.  

     

    QUESTIONER: Thank you.  Rodrigo, I wanted to ask you, after criticism from President Javier Milei decided to step aside from the day-to-day negotiations with Argentina, but I was hoping you could tell us if you’re still involved in the back office discussions with the rest of the team about the future program and the ongoing economic situation in Argentina.  And for Luis, you were in both meetings with Gita Gopinath and Kristalina Georgieva yesterday.  I wanted to know if, in your view, has the Argentine government gained enough credibility, you know, with the fiscal front and with the ongoing economic recovery to come to the Fund and ask for an increase in the exposition with a new program?  Thanks.  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Okay.  Let’s go online.

     

    QUESTIONER: So, question for Mr. Cubeddu.  My question is to know what was discussed in the meeting yesterday between Ms. Georgieva and Minister Caputo.  And also, if you could — well, if the IMF is concerned about the lack of reserve accumulation in the central bank in recent months, if is there the possibility of grant a waiver maybe in the Tenth Review?  Thank you.

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Great, thanks.  Let’s take one more and we’ll pause after that.  The woman here in the red shirt, please.  

     

    QUESTIONER: Hello, good morning. I would like to know if — how important is for the Fund for Argentina to release its capital controls and if you are discussing new money to help that within a new program.  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Okay, let us pause, or maybe one.  I saw someone behind you had one more question, and then perhaps we can — yes, go ahead.  And then we will move on. 

     

    QUESTIONER: The IMF pointed out in its last — in its latest staff report that it was necessary to eliminate the exchange rate for exporters and move forward with the removal of exchange controls.  What is your opinion on what has been done so far?  And is it possible, as the — government claims to achieve growth without — with — capital controls?  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Okay.  

     

    MR. VALDES: Okay, thank you for the several questions in Argentina.  Let me start from one.  There were a couple of questions, that I just want to say that, as a matter of policy, we do not disclose the conversations between authorities and management.  No, this is not our job.  Second point I want to mention is that the teams have been interacting very actively and constructively for several weeks already.  Ana has mentioned, the authorities are here, and that engagement has continued.  

     

    And finally, I have delegated the Argentina case to Luis Cubeddu, as you know.  And really, I do not have anything else to add on this.  

     

    MR. CUBEDDU: Very good.  And to address a few questions on Argentina and perhaps maybe also to first mention, thank Rodrigo for the deep trust in this complex and important case.  This is obviously a team effort, and it involves the technical team in Western Hemisphere as well as other departments.  

     

    Maybe to stress from yesterday’s conversation, our management, both Kristalina and Gita, as well as us, staff, met with the Argentine authorities, with Minister Caputo and Central Bank President Bausili.  I think in our conversations we stressed and underscored the important progress that has been made, particularly in reducing inflation and establishing a very strong fiscal anchor.  We now have nine months of primary surpluses and overall balances under our belt.  I think we also underscored that this has also allowed an improvement in the central bank balance sheet as well as a strengthening of international reserves from extremely low levels. 

     

    In those conversations, we also emphasize that challenges remain and that sustaining the gains that we have seen so far will require that policies evolve and that appropriately balance domestic as well as external considerations and external objectives.  In this regard, — we discussed the need — to gradually unwind some of the existing ethics restrictions and controls.  But obviously, this should be done in a carefully calibrated way to ensure that the process is an orderly one.  

     

    With regards to moving forward and the questions related to the program.  I think our teams continue to work closely — with the Argentine authorities.  The — discussions — have deepened in an effort to better understand and fully understand their plans in the period ahead.  The engagement in which we are in is taking place within the context of the current EFF.  Although the authorities are also exploring the options whether to move to a new program.  Our hope is that we will be in a position to provide a bit more information on this in terms of the strategy of engagement over the coming weeks.  

     

    So, I think with this I tried to summarize some of your questions and, although happy to answer as needed.  Thank you.  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Okay, that is good.  Please go ahead.  

     

    QUESTIONER: So, there is a law of fair taxation that is awaiting approval in my country, Honduras.  How does the IMF evaluate the fiscal policies implemented by the Honduran government and their impact on the country macroeconomic stability?

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Why do not you take that, and I will — I think we have a couple people online for Chile that will get queued up while you answer that question.  

     

    MR. VALDES: Anything else on Honduras?   No?  Okay.  

     

    QUESTIONER: The last week Honduras has been successful, passed [inaudible].  The program is technical.  An agreement, that has been reached.  My question is whether advantage or benefit will there be for the country with IMF — another multilateral organization?  Thank you.  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Okay.  

     

    MR. VALDES: Okay.  Do you want to go to Chile too?  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Sure.  We’re — getting near the end, so let’s take a couple of people online.   

     

    QUESTIONER: Hi, Julie.  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Hi.  

     

    QUESTIONER: This is a question for Mr. Valdes.   There’s two questions actually.   The first is there is some doubt here in Chile about the fiscal revenue for next year.  Now we are in the process of the law for the next year.  So specifically for the new tax compliance law, if it is going to get the fixed revenue that the government expects, how do you see that?  And you see there is a risk there?  And the second question is about the growth because the Central Bank of Chile expect the long-term GDP growth for Chile going to be nowhere in the next years, 10 years, to 1.8.  Little lower than the report that you report that you had foreseen.  Do you see some sign signal from the government for to actually increase the long-term growth?  Because you talk — in the report about streamline the process for investment permit, the [inaudible], I would say here, and the strength security.   I know you can talk a little longer about that.  That’s the question.  Thank you.   

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Okay, I have one more to add on Chile: in the case of Chile, do you think there are any measures that are not on the government’s agenda that are relevant for growth?  And then what is your view of Chile’s fiscal accounts?  Just mentioning the S&P highlighted the country’s fiscal consolidation, and Fitch warned that Chile is unlikely to meet its fiscal deficit target for 2024.  So — let us take those, and I think those will be the last questions of the briefing.  

     

    MR. VALDES: Okay, thank you, Julie.  Well, let me start with — Honduras.  Honduras has a Fund-supported program.  It took some time to reach Staff-Level Agreement for the First and Second Reviews combined, but we managed to have Staff-Level Agreement a few days ago.  And we are now working to bring the program to the review to the Board.  

     

    What I can say is that this program it is very important to safeguard macroeconomic stability.  We are — we agree on the policies needed for that, and the commitment of the authorities is very important to do their part in terms of fiscal monetary policy and effects policies such that we safeguard the macroeconomic stability.  The review is also very important because it will facilitate the disbursement of different credits for from other partners.  So, for example, the IDB and the World Bank.  So overall, this review is important because we are agreeing on policies that are needed.

     

    In terms of the Ley de Justicia Tributaria, which is in Congress, first, let me say that this law, we understand that this proposal incorporates many suggestions from the position in the private sector, and we value enormously the dialogue that countries can have with the different partners on this, and we salute that.  

     

    Second, more to the content.  There are about 15 corporate income tax special regimes — in Honduras, and by any metric that is too high.  So, it is very important the effort that they are doing to consolidate and hopefully end into three regimes.  And also, it is important to say that Honduras has tax exemptions of around 7 percent of GDP.  That is way above also of what we observe in other places.  And it is also important to discuss whether those regimes, those exemptions, are worth having or not.  And this law exactly proposes some discipline, if you want, on this.  We estimate that it would yield about 1 percent of GDP in revenues in the medium run.  

     

    In terms of Chile, well, you know, I am a Chilean.  So, I will — and we have some rules at the Fund that we should not speak about our countries too much.  So, I will defer the questions to the Mission Chief Andrea, who is available for this.  Although I can say a couple of more broad issues.  I do not want to enter into the fiscal reform law or other things.  

     

    But let me just say that there are important measures taken in Chile align with this call that we have about potential output growth.  They are making efforts to make more predictable and to shorten also the process of permits for the different investments, and that’s — we value that enormously.  Also, there are initiatives to facilitate labor force participation for women.  And that is also something that the Fund for a long time has been advocating.  Of course, this is a marathon.  And in a marathon, you have to — you do not have one silver bullet until you get to the end of the marathon with a couple of measures.  It takes much more in Chile and all countries.  What to do is very country specific.  But as I mentioned before, around rule of law, around security, around predictability, around the labor market, are many other ideas that could be advanced.  Thank you.  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Take one more. I know you wanted to ask your questions.  

     

    QUESTIONER: Thank you for taking my question.  What are the IMF’s recommendations for Brazil given the worsening forecasts for public debt?  And the government is working on new measures to cut spending.  What is the importance of these measures?  And additionally, how will fiscal policies, you know, these new measures and higher interest rates, impact future growth?  Thanks.

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Thanks.  And that is the last question.  

     

    MR. VALDES: Okay, so let me just react to — the question in the following sense.  Brazil has, as other countries, this challenge of how to implement a level of consolidation that is very important to stabilize debt and has a challenge that’s probably not everywhere.  And it is a difficult challenge.  Many of the expenditures are very rigid.  So politically speaking, it is more difficult.  You have to work in the taxation mechanisms that are there.  We understand that they are doing that.  We have recommended that for some time, and that should facilitate this.  

     

    Importantly, in this tango between the central bank and fiscal, we should not look only to the fiscal side.  We should also do it together with monetary policy.  So the growth effects of a consolidation should not be really bad.  First, it could be positive by itself by lowering risk premia, and second, opens up the possibility of — lower rates, and that is important.  

     

    Ana was the Mission Chief for Brazil and now is the reviewer of Brazil, so she may want to add something.  

     

    MS. CORBACHO: Yeah, I just want to say that in our baseline forecast, we do expect an improvement in the fiscal position of Brazil.  But what we have been emphasizing is that this improvement needs to be tackled and underpinned by very concrete revenue and spending measures.  Rodrigo mentioned the challenge of making the budget more flexible.  This will help Brazil have more space to respond to new spending priorities as well as shocks, unforeseen shocks.  It requires deep structural reforms in the big items of spending categories, in wages, in pensions, floors for certain items of the budget, and many more spending rigidities that are very particular to Brazil.  There’s also an agenda to foster revenue mobilization, particularly by reducing inefficient tax expenditures.  And after the groundbreaking VAT Reform, considering also reforms of personal income tax and corporate income tax.  Thank you.  

     

    MR. VALDES: If I just may add as a closing, that we will have the Regional Economic Outlook launch in Paraguay on November 4th.   The report has a couple of accompanying papers on fiscal and labor force participation, labor markets, that are pretty interesting, very detailed.  I hope useful.  Thank you.   

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Thank you, Rodrigo.  Thank you, Ana.  Thank you, Luis.  This concludes the press briefing.  

     

    SPEAKER: Question on Colombia.

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Okay.  We can take, if you agree, Colombia.   

     

    MR. VALDES: Yeah, but you should say it before.   Okay, go ahead.  

     

    QUESTIONER: You can do it in Spanish if it is easier for you.  And please, if you can answer in Spanish.   Dr. Rodrigo, for 11 years you have spoken about reforms, but I see that the reforms are really complicated.  Even today, Colombia has not been able to bring about a tax reform in order to collect $3 billion, a little billion dollars, which is just a minor amount at an international level.  What is truly recommended by the IMF so that the reforms will move forward and will not have to face the hurdles and the respective congresses, so that countries can improve their flow of investment and for the trade to truly be dynamic?  You know the history of Colombia.  We grew at 4 percent and now not even at 2 percent.  Thank you.  

     

    MR. VALDES: Thank you for the question.  I will answer in Spanish.  What you are showing is the difficulty in developing reforms.  And when we say, let us develop reforms, we do not do it in a vacuum without understanding that the policy is difficult and not because we face difficulties that would stop us from doing it.  It is key for the region to continue expediting, accelerating the development of reforms and hopefully for the benefit of growth and not only for other things.  And specifically, it is important to do it because of what you were saying, because the potential growth, even in the countries that grew faster 5 or 10 years ago, such as the Pacific Partnership or the Pacific Alliance, has reached an average again.  And we are worried that with that very low average, lower than emerging Europe and much lower than that of emerging Asia, obviously the social needs, the fiscal needs, will not be solved.  And therefore, the appeal is to double effort.  There’s no way of skipping the political effort.  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Okay.  If you — have any other questions, please feel free to reach out to us via email at media@imf.org.  Thank you all for attending.  

     

    *  *  *   *  *

    IMF Communications Department
    MEDIA RELATIONS

    PRESS OFFICER: Julie Ziegler

    Phone: +1 202 623-7100Email: MEDIA@IMF.org

    @IMFSpokesperson

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Transcript of Western Hemisphere Economic Outlook October 2024 Press Briefing

    Source: IMF – News in Russian

    October 25, 2024

    PARTICIPANTS:

     

    RODRIGO VALDES

    Director of Western Hemisphere Department

    International Monetary Fund

     

    ANA CORBACHO

    Deputy Director ofWestern Hemisphere Department

    International Monetary Fund

     

    LUIS CUBEDDU

    Deputy DirectorWestern Hemisphere Department

    International Monetary Fund

     

    JULIE ZIEGLER

    Senior Communications Officer

    International Monetary Fund

     

      

    MS. ZIEGLER: Good morning.  Welcome everyone.  This is the press briefing for the Regional Economic Outlook for the Western Hemisphere.  My name is Julie Ziegler, and I am with the Communications Department at the Fund.  I’m going to introduce our panel today.  To my immediate left is Rodrigo Valdes, who.  the Director of the Western Hemisphere Department.  And he is joined by his Deputies, Ana Corbacho and Luis Cubeddu.  So, we are going to start with some opening remarks from Rodrigo, and then after that I will have some housekeeping items, and we will take your questions.  

     

    MR. VALDES: Thank you, Julie.  And good morning to everyone.  Welcome to this press briefing.  We have just released, and it is on the internet, our Annual Regional Economic Outlook for the Western Hemisphere.  This is a bit like the WEO, but for the region.  And here we have two important messages, two key messages.  

     

    The first one is that there is a need to rebalance macroeconomic policies in the region.  And the second one is the urgency to press on with structural reforms to boost potential output growth.  And I will explain this.  The monetary policy part of the first message, the rebalancing applies to several of the flexible exchange rate and inflation targeting countries in the region with different degrees of intensity.  The second message, the urgency to deepen reforms for growth, really applies to almost all economies in the region.  

     

    Over the last few years, the region has successfully weathered a series of major shocks in the world economy.  They showed resilience and they have adopted really macroeconomic policies in most countries that are at the top of the frontier of what we know.  And so far, largely the region has stayed in the sidelines, on the sidelines of global geopolitical tensions.  

     

    Now growth in the region is moderating as most economies are operating back near their potential.  What is concerning, however, growth in most countries is expected to return to its low historical average and this will not help with the region’s macroeconomic, fiscal and social challenges.  Overall, we expect growth in Latin America and the Caribbean — if we exclude Argentina, which has an important rebound next year, and Venezuela with its own dynamics — growth will moderate from 2.6 in 2023 to 2.2 in 2025, going through 2.6 also this year, 2024.  So we’re going back to the lower part of the 2 percent around these baseline projections.  We see the risks to near-term growth tilted to the downside, partly reflecting global risks, including importantly the persistent geopolitical tensions.

     

    Turning to inflation, in line with global trends and also reflecting the effect of tight policies, inflation has fallen markedly since the peak of mid-2022, and it is near the target in most countries.   However, it is not a target almost everywhere.  In the region, I would say that the last mile of this inflation has been rather long.   We expect to continue to see easing of monetary policy, but gradually on account of sticky services and inflation expectations not being perfectly re-anchored and also because inflation risks are generally tilted to the upside, reflecting basically commodity price volatility — the factors that I mentioned before of geopolitical risks and also new risks of fiscal slippages.  

     

    So, with the output gap and inflation gap mostly closed, what should policymakers do?  We think that they need to focus on rebuilding policy space and working on boosting potential growth – the messages I mentioned at the beginning.  This means rebalancing the policy mix and pushing forward with structural reforms.  

     

    Let me elaborate a bit more on the policy mix.   The current combination of macro policies is generally not everywhere, but generally tilted toward tight monetary policy while fiscal policy remains loose.  Although the earlier tightening of monetary policy by the region’s central banks was essential to bring inflation down, inflation is now close to target while monetary policy rates remain elevated in many countries.  At the same time, however, public debt levels are high and will continue raising if we do not have fiscal consolidation.  

     

    So, at this juncture it is necessary to rebalance policies, starting with strengthening public finances.  Most countries have quite ambitious fiscal consolidation plans, but their implementation –so from plans to reality — has been in such a way that they have been pushed back.  It is crucial in the region that these plans proceed without further delays to rebuild the buffers while protecting priority public spending, investment, and social spending.  Strengthening the current fiscal rules is also important so they can deliver these consolidation objectives.  

     

    A timely implementation of this fiscal consolidation is critical not only for fiscal sustainability, but also for supporting the normalization of monetary policy and the credibility of the frameworks more broadly.  With fiscal policy moving in the right direction, most central banks will be well placed to proceed with the monetary policy easing that we expect, while remaining on guard, of course, against risks of reemerging price pressures.  

     

    Let me now speak about the second point, that is the need to press with structural reforms and I will go from need to urgency.   As mentioned before, medium-term growth is expected to remain subdued, reflecting longstanding unresolved challenges which include low investment and especially low productivity growth.   Also, the region is suffering shifting demographics that will slow growth further.  The labor force is growing less than before, and this will weaken one essential engine for growth.  The impediments for growth are many and country specific, some are more common, and that reality is confronted with an ongoing reform agenda that is thin in many countries.  This could lead to a vicious cycle of low growth, social discontent and populist policies.  So greater efforts to advance with structural reforms are needed to boost potential growth and raise living standards.  

     

    We see that strengthening governance is a priority that cuts across all areas of growth.  This includes, for example, reinforcing the rule of law, improving government effectiveness, and, importantly, tackling crime more efficiently.   Improving the business environment and public investment is also needed to increase overall investment.  While reducing informality and making labor markets more attuned to more productivity gains is important.  This part of the labor market is also really important for women labor force participation, because this is one of the sources to offset the demographic headwinds.  

     

    These reforms will also be essential in positioning the region to fully harness the benefits of the global green transition and new technological advances.  It is disappointing that until now mining investment, for example, in the region has not picked up despite the new opportunities for green minerals.  This suggests, and I quote here, “we can do better,” as the IMF Managing Director stressed in her initial annual meeting speech, that also applies to our region.  

     

    From our side, through policy advice, capacity development, and financial support, we are ready to continue engaging, supporting countries in their efforts to strengthen their macroeconomic frameworks and increase economic resilience and growth opportunities.  

     

    With this, let me stop here and we are ready to take your questions.  Julie.

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Thank you.  Before we take questions, let me please just go through a few housekeeping items.  I want to remind everyone first of all that this is on the record.  Also, as Rodrigo mentioned, the report has just been published for the Western Hemisphere Regional Economic Outlook and you can find it on imf.org.  

     

    So, when we go to your questions, I ask please that you raise your hand, that you state your name and your affiliation, and if you are online, please can you keep your cameras on.  We cannot go to you unless your camera is on.  So, I appreciate it if you keep your cameras on.

     

    Finally, please keep your questions brief.  We are going to start, as in practice in the past, with questions on the region, meaning the entire region, Western Hemisphere or the Caribbean.  We will get to country questions after that.  Please bear with us, but we would like to start with questions from the region — on the region.  

     

    Does anybody have a region-specific question?   Yes, please.  

     

    QUESTIONER: A question about protectionism.  How do you see the growing threat of resurgent protectionism, threat to macroeconomy and to markets as well?  And how do — how should the region prepare for that?   And then maybe another thing on insecurity, which is another theme as well.  How could it deter or curb investment in the region insecurity, please?   

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Do we have any other questions on the region?  Please. The lady in the back.

     

    QUESTIONER: Thank you.  How are you analyzing the effect of the U.S. election and potential tariffs on emerging markets, particularly on interest rates and capital flows?  And on Latin America, do you think the fiscal stimulus measures in the region are compromising the efforts of central banks in combating inflation?  And does it endanger years of macro stabilization?   Thank you.  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Okay, one more.  

     

    QUESTIONER: I am sorry, The Financial Times has an article out just this morning saying that the EU is accelerating — well, within the block — accelerating or rating contingency plans for a possible Trump presidency.  The German Institute — Economic Institute — in Cologne says that a trade war could hit GDP growth in Germany by about 1.5 percent.  And I think Goldman Sachs has a forecast saying that the euro could fall by about 10 percent if those tariffs move forward.  So, I’m wondering if that is the biggest threat.  And then secondly, on outlook, I thought there would be a lot more optimism since inflation is decelerating — in the euro area and interest rates are being cut.  That — would lower the cost of borrowing and actually spur investment there.  So, if you could share your thoughts on that. Thank you.  

     

    MR. VALDES: Okay, so — let me start from the last question.  Why we are not more optimistic in the medium run given that inflation is coming to targets?  Reality is that there are two forces here.  The cycle around the trend and that part of the cycle has been readily well managed in the region.  We are back — to trend.  But that trend, unfortunately, is not very strong in terms of growth.  That does not depend on macro policies in the short run.  Macro policies can produce a stable environment, can facilitate that growth.  But ultimately it is investment.  It is the accumulation of capital, productivity, the labor force, what produces — that trend.  And there is this call for you need, the region, needs to refocus from micromanagement that was very important the last few years to this low trend because we are hitting capacity basically.  And this is across the region.  It’s the Caribbean.  It is Latin America.  Perhaps Central America.  A few countries are the higher growing countries right now because exactly that, because they have a bigger trend.  

     

    That brings me to the issue of trade for the region.  Trade is very important.  These are almost all open economies, small open economies.  I have to say, on trade at first, the region has been very protective of open trade.  If you look at measures against trade and across the globe, the region has been the ones that have put less constraints to that.  

    Second, in terms of the election, as we always say, we would not speculate on that.  No, that is not something that is a role of the Fund.  But what we can say is that open trade is good for the region depending on how is fragmentation at the end, if it happens.  Further fragmentation, where is the circles where is the near shoring, for example.  Some countries may even benefit, but others may suffer.  But we do not know yet.  What I can say though is that for this trend growth, open global economy is better for the region.  

     

    Two more things.  Security.  This is an issue that has been a new concern, I would say, for the macroeconomy.  We have — some estimates that this matters.  Matters for growth.  Matters for investment, and especially matters for the well-being of people.  So it’s something that in the region at least is top of mind — for households.  And . need to take it very, very seriously. It has macro impact in the region.  We will have a conference, by the way, in November on this precisely.  It’s not that we will become experts on this, but we want the financial community to be more on top of these issues.  

     

     And finally, let me mention this tension — fiscal-monetary policy.  I do not think it is the case that we are in a position that we are risking the two decades of very strong work that we have gained.   But at the same time, we are not well-balanced.  On average, some countries are better, some countries — less good.  A good balance between monetary policy and fiscal policy.   

     

    Debt dynamics are such that debt-to-GDP is increasing.  Plans are good, but they have been postponed in many countries.  So, we need to deliver on those.  And that will produce this opportunity to continue also easing monetary policy.  We have said that this is like a tango, and it is not an easy tango to have between the central bank and the Ministry of Finance.  But it is needed, this coordination. 

     

    Let me stop there. I do not know if my colleagues would like to add anything on this in general.  No?   Perfect.  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: So before we go, just last call for regional.  These are on the region, not country specific All right, go ahead.  In the center.   

     

    QUESTIONER: Thanks very much. Just this is the 80th anniversary of the Bretton Woods institutions.  For most of that period, Washington-based financial institutions have had pretty much a monopoly on lending to Latin America.  We have just had a BRICS conference in Russia.  BRICS have a development bank.  There are other alternatives for Latin American countries for finance and development.  How does the IMF feel about that?  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Okay, maybe one more on the region. Okay, go ahead.  Right there.   

     

    QUESTIONER: Hi, good morning. Of course, there have been some glowing words about how Caribbean countries have handled their policies over the past couple of years.  But of course, we also know that several Caribbean countries are vulnerable, particularly as a result of climate change.  So, my question is, what policies or what reforms can we see that will help provide a buffer with regard to climate activity that has been affecting the Caribbean?  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Okay.

     

    MR. VALDES: Okay. Look, reality is that we have been working for years with other partners in terms of regional arrangements.   We have Development Banks in the region, the IADB, we have CAF, we have FLAR (Latin American Reserve Fund) as another arrangement that lends money to central banks.  So perhaps the issue here is not whether we have these new institutions, but how to coordinate well.  We are convinced that the more coordination, the less fragmentation, that everybody works together is better.  Nobody needs the monopoly of this, but we need to work together.

     

    In terms of the Caribbean, I will ask Ana to go a bit more in detail. But it is very important to face reality for the Caribbean.  And they are doing it.  There’s a striking number.  Countries in the Caribbean lose 2.5 percent of GDP in capital per year, on average.   It does not happen every year, but every 10 years you can have a 25 percent loss.  So, you have to be prepared for that.  And that means that fiscal policy has to be geared towards that.   This is a multilayer system.  You have to be careful with investment.   Investment has to be more resilient.   You have to work in the insurance side, in contingency bonds, for example.  So, there is a lot to do.  Some countries have been very good on that.  Let me take the case of Jamaica and the last hurricane.  They had some possibilities to use contingencies for that case.  

     

    But let me pass to Ana to add a bit.  

     

    MS. CORBACHO: Thank you.  Certainly, the Caribbean region is very vulnerable to climate change shocks.  And we are concerned that the patterns of these shocks may be changing, becoming more severe and more frequent, which certainly requires more action on the government side and the multilateral community to support Caribbean economies.   

     

    In particular on policy measures, what we have emphasized in our dialogue is the need to integrate better mitigation and adaptation strategies in public investment plans.  Also fostering more active participation of private finance in increasing investment for climate resilience, as well as reducing the consumption of fuels through electrification.  An upside for the Caribbean is the green energy transition.  It could certainly give countries a chance to enhance resilience by investing in renewable energies, and through that, boosting competitiveness and lower exposure to climate change shocks.  Thank you.  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Great. We are going to take some questions online.  She says the IMF reduced the growth prospects for Mexico.   Could you tell me about the greatest risk that my country faces and the possibilities to grow a little more?  

     

    We have another one. She said, is it possible for Mexico to achieve the reduction of the fiscal deficit from 6 percent to 3 percent as the government intends, while maintaining spending on social transfer programs and energy subsidies?  

     

    So, while we are on Mexico, anybody else on Mexico in the room?  Please go ahead.  Wait — for the mic, please.    

     

    QUESTIONER: A bit more about violence and the risk that it poses to all the general policies, the challenges.  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Thank you. 

     

    MR. VALDES: Well, let me first say that we are in the middle of the Article IV process with Mexico.  So you will have a lot of details after it goes through the Board and the Article IV is published.  You probably have seen also the concluding statement published a couple of weeks ago.  But I can add a couple of things here.  One, we see bottlenecks in certain areas, and energy is one.  Infrastructure more generally as something that is a constraint right now in Mexico to take more advantage of — the opportunities it has with nearshoring and other possibilities.  The government is working on this, and we support fully that these are constraints that need to be alleviated.  

     

    In terms of fiscal, I would not want to make any… I mean, let us wait — for the budget. There is always the possibility, as we mentioned in the concluding statement, of have revenue mobilization at some stage.  We see, though, very importantly that there are steps towards consolidation.

     

    In terms of violence.  Look, here, I think we need to recognize that macroeconomists at least do not know a lot about how violence has impacts on the economy and the economy on violence.  So, I think it is very important to invest more knowledge on this.  Our own estimates – and this is a broad estimate – it’s not for Mexico specifically, but if the region were able to cut by half the difference it has between homicides suffering to the level of the world economy, growth could increase about half a percentage point for a good 10 years.  And that is more or less aligned with other estimates that are around.  So, in terms of the macro, this is something that is important.  

     

    Now, easier said than done because then the next question is what to do.  And there is where I would not want to make any comment because — we really, as macroeconomists, know very little. But we know that it’s important.  

     

    QUESTIONER: Good morning.  Can you hear me?  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: We can hear you.  If you bear with us, we can’t see you yet.

     

    QUESTIONER: Good morning, Julie. Good morning, Mr. Valdes. The projection for Ecuador is 0.3 percent in 2024.  We want to know if the projection includes the energy crisis in Ecuador that has worsened with power outages of up to 14 hours.  What impact can the energy crisis have in Ecuador?   And do you feel that it will affect the fiscal goals of the extended facility program that Ecuador has?  Is there a possibility of a recession this year?   

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Thank you. We have also we had questions submitted on Ecuador from Evelyn Tapia from PROMESA.  Does Ecuador’s growth projection for 2024 and 2025 include the effects of the electricity crisis that the country is experiencing?  When is the review of the program’s goals expected to end so that the country can receive the second disbursement for the Fund?  And when would that disbursement be made effective?   

     

    Ecuador? Anything else?  Okay.

     

    MR. VALDES: Okay, so everybody to be on the same page. Ecuador has a program with the Fund, an EFF, and we are close to have the First Review of the program.  I will ask Ana to go into more details on the growth considerations and other considerations you may want to add.  But let me just say that the authorities have been implementing this very strongly.  So — we are very optimistic, at least from the side of the commitment from the authorities on their own program that has been supported — by the Fund.  There will be a mission soon for this Review.  And of course, this new shock about electricity that has to do with climate, again — is bad news.  At the same time, the first half of the year was a bit stronger than expected.  

     

    But let me ask Ana to elaborate.  

     

    MS. CORBACHO: Thank you, Rodrigo.  I want to emphasize, as Rodrigo did, that the authorities are making very strong progress in advancing their stabilization program.  They have taken very important fiscal measures that are already showing results with an improvement in their fiscal position.  And we also see liquidity conditions, and notably the reserve position of the country, being stronger than we had expected when we approved the program in May.  

     

    Now Ecuador faces a very difficult electricity crisis with the worst drought in many decades.  The situation is still unfolding, but we would expect that it would have an impact both on economic conditions and fiscal needs.  And as we have more information, we may need to revise then the growth outlook for ’24 and ’25.  As of now, because the first part of the year was stronger than we had expected, we actually increased our forecast for 2024 growth from 0.1 to 0.3 percent.  

     

    In terms of the program, we expect that this would be discussed at the board by the end of the year, and upon completion of that review, if it is successful, there would be availability of the second disbursement in the program of $500 million.  Thank you.  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Now let us turn to Argentina. And we will take a bunch of questions.  Don’t worry.  

     

    QUESTIONER: Hi, good morning.  Thank you very much for taking my question.  My first question will relate — related that yesterday Kristalina Georgieva had a meeting with our Economy Minister, Luis Caputo.  Can you tell us what were the conversation and is coming very soon a mission to Argentina?  Just to the review of Nine and Ten Review.  Thank you very much.  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Thank you. I am going to take a few questions in the room first.  Please go ahead.  

     

    QUESTIONER: Thank you.  Rodrigo, I wanted to ask you, after criticism from President Javier Milei decided to step aside from the day-to-day negotiations with Argentina, but I was hoping you could tell us if you’re still involved in the back office discussions with the rest of the team about the future program and the ongoing economic situation in Argentina.  And for Luis, you were in both meetings with Gita Gopinath and Kristalina Georgieva yesterday.  I wanted to know if, in your view, has the Argentine government gained enough credibility, you know, with the fiscal front and with the ongoing economic recovery to come to the Fund and ask for an increase in the exposition with a new program?  Thanks.  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Okay.  Let’s go online.

     

    QUESTIONER: So, question for Mr. Cubeddu.  My question is to know what was discussed in the meeting yesterday between Ms. Georgieva and Minister Caputo.  And also, if you could — well, if the IMF is concerned about the lack of reserve accumulation in the central bank in recent months, if is there the possibility of grant a waiver maybe in the Tenth Review?  Thank you.

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Great, thanks.  Let’s take one more and we’ll pause after that.  The woman here in the red shirt, please.  

     

    QUESTIONER: Hello, good morning. I would like to know if — how important is for the Fund for Argentina to release its capital controls and if you are discussing new money to help that within a new program.  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Okay, let us pause, or maybe one.  I saw someone behind you had one more question, and then perhaps we can — yes, go ahead.  And then we will move on. 

     

    QUESTIONER: The IMF pointed out in its last — in its latest staff report that it was necessary to eliminate the exchange rate for exporters and move forward with the removal of exchange controls.  What is your opinion on what has been done so far?  And is it possible, as the — government claims to achieve growth without — with — capital controls?  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Okay.  

     

    MR. VALDES: Okay, thank you for the several questions in Argentina.  Let me start from one.  There were a couple of questions, that I just want to say that, as a matter of policy, we do not disclose the conversations between authorities and management.  No, this is not our job.  Second point I want to mention is that the teams have been interacting very actively and constructively for several weeks already.  Ana has mentioned, the authorities are here, and that engagement has continued.  

     

    And finally, I have delegated the Argentina case to Luis Cubeddu, as you know.  And really, I do not have anything else to add on this.  

     

    MR. CUBEDDU: Very good.  And to address a few questions on Argentina and perhaps maybe also to first mention, thank Rodrigo for the deep trust in this complex and important case.  This is obviously a team effort, and it involves the technical team in Western Hemisphere as well as other departments.  

     

    Maybe to stress from yesterday’s conversation, our management, both Kristalina and Gita, as well as us, staff, met with the Argentine authorities, with Minister Caputo and Central Bank President Bausili.  I think in our conversations we stressed and underscored the important progress that has been made, particularly in reducing inflation and establishing a very strong fiscal anchor.  We now have nine months of primary surpluses and overall balances under our belt.  I think we also underscored that this has also allowed an improvement in the central bank balance sheet as well as a strengthening of international reserves from extremely low levels. 

     

    In those conversations, we also emphasize that challenges remain and that sustaining the gains that we have seen so far will require that policies evolve and that appropriately balance domestic as well as external considerations and external objectives.  In this regard, — we discussed the need — to gradually unwind some of the existing ethics restrictions and controls.  But obviously, this should be done in a carefully calibrated way to ensure that the process is an orderly one.  

     

    With regards to moving forward and the questions related to the program.  I think our teams continue to work closely — with the Argentine authorities.  The — discussions — have deepened in an effort to better understand and fully understand their plans in the period ahead.  The engagement in which we are in is taking place within the context of the current EFF.  Although the authorities are also exploring the options whether to move to a new program.  Our hope is that we will be in a position to provide a bit more information on this in terms of the strategy of engagement over the coming weeks.  

     

    So, I think with this I tried to summarize some of your questions and, although happy to answer as needed.  Thank you.  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Okay, that is good.  Please go ahead.  

     

    QUESTIONER: So, there is a law of fair taxation that is awaiting approval in my country, Honduras.  How does the IMF evaluate the fiscal policies implemented by the Honduran government and their impact on the country macroeconomic stability?

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Why do not you take that, and I will — I think we have a couple people online for Chile that will get queued up while you answer that question.  

     

    MR. VALDES: Anything else on Honduras?   No?  Okay.  

     

    QUESTIONER: The last week Honduras has been successful, passed [inaudible].  The program is technical.  An agreement, that has been reached.  My question is whether advantage or benefit will there be for the country with IMF — another multilateral organization?  Thank you.  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Okay.  

     

    MR. VALDES: Okay.  Do you want to go to Chile too?  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Sure.  We’re — getting near the end, so let’s take a couple of people online.   

     

    QUESTIONER: Hi, Julie.  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Hi.  

     

    QUESTIONER: This is a question for Mr. Valdes.   There’s two questions actually.   The first is there is some doubt here in Chile about the fiscal revenue for next year.  Now we are in the process of the law for the next year.  So specifically for the new tax compliance law, if it is going to get the fixed revenue that the government expects, how do you see that?  And you see there is a risk there?  And the second question is about the growth because the Central Bank of Chile expect the long-term GDP growth for Chile going to be nowhere in the next years, 10 years, to 1.8.  Little lower than the report that you report that you had foreseen.  Do you see some sign signal from the government for to actually increase the long-term growth?  Because you talk — in the report about streamline the process for investment permit, the [inaudible], I would say here, and the strength security.   I know you can talk a little longer about that.  That’s the question.  Thank you.   

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Okay, I have one more to add on Chile: in the case of Chile, do you think there are any measures that are not on the government’s agenda that are relevant for growth?  And then what is your view of Chile’s fiscal accounts?  Just mentioning the S&P highlighted the country’s fiscal consolidation, and Fitch warned that Chile is unlikely to meet its fiscal deficit target for 2024.  So — let us take those, and I think those will be the last questions of the briefing.  

     

    MR. VALDES: Okay, thank you, Julie.  Well, let me start with — Honduras.  Honduras has a Fund-supported program.  It took some time to reach Staff-Level Agreement for the First and Second Reviews combined, but we managed to have Staff-Level Agreement a few days ago.  And we are now working to bring the program to the review to the Board.  

     

    What I can say is that this program it is very important to safeguard macroeconomic stability.  We are — we agree on the policies needed for that, and the commitment of the authorities is very important to do their part in terms of fiscal monetary policy and effects policies such that we safeguard the macroeconomic stability.  The review is also very important because it will facilitate the disbursement of different credits for from other partners.  So, for example, the IDB and the World Bank.  So overall, this review is important because we are agreeing on policies that are needed.

     

    In terms of the Ley de Justicia Tributaria, which is in Congress, first, let me say that this law, we understand that this proposal incorporates many suggestions from the position in the private sector, and we value enormously the dialogue that countries can have with the different partners on this, and we salute that.  

     

    Second, more to the content.  There are about 15 corporate income tax special regimes — in Honduras, and by any metric that is too high.  So, it is very important the effort that they are doing to consolidate and hopefully end into three regimes.  And also, it is important to say that Honduras has tax exemptions of around 7 percent of GDP.  That is way above also of what we observe in other places.  And it is also important to discuss whether those regimes, those exemptions, are worth having or not.  And this law exactly proposes some discipline, if you want, on this.  We estimate that it would yield about 1 percent of GDP in revenues in the medium run.  

     

    In terms of Chile, well, you know, I am a Chilean.  So, I will — and we have some rules at the Fund that we should not speak about our countries too much.  So, I will defer the questions to the Mission Chief Andrea, who is available for this.  Although I can say a couple of more broad issues.  I do not want to enter into the fiscal reform law or other things.  

     

    But let me just say that there are important measures taken in Chile align with this call that we have about potential output growth.  They are making efforts to make more predictable and to shorten also the process of permits for the different investments, and that’s — we value that enormously.  Also, there are initiatives to facilitate labor force participation for women.  And that is also something that the Fund for a long time has been advocating.  Of course, this is a marathon.  And in a marathon, you have to — you do not have one silver bullet until you get to the end of the marathon with a couple of measures.  It takes much more in Chile and all countries.  What to do is very country specific.  But as I mentioned before, around rule of law, around security, around predictability, around the labor market, are many other ideas that could be advanced.  Thank you.  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Take one more. I know you wanted to ask your questions.  

     

    QUESTIONER: Thank you for taking my question.  What are the IMF’s recommendations for Brazil given the worsening forecasts for public debt?  And the government is working on new measures to cut spending.  What is the importance of these measures?  And additionally, how will fiscal policies, you know, these new measures and higher interest rates, impact future growth?  Thanks.

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Thanks.  And that is the last question.  

     

    MR. VALDES: Okay, so let me just react to — the question in the following sense.  Brazil has, as other countries, this challenge of how to implement a level of consolidation that is very important to stabilize debt and has a challenge that’s probably not everywhere.  And it is a difficult challenge.  Many of the expenditures are very rigid.  So politically speaking, it is more difficult.  You have to work in the taxation mechanisms that are there.  We understand that they are doing that.  We have recommended that for some time, and that should facilitate this.  

     

    Importantly, in this tango between the central bank and fiscal, we should not look only to the fiscal side.  We should also do it together with monetary policy.  So the growth effects of a consolidation should not be really bad.  First, it could be positive by itself by lowering risk premia, and second, opens up the possibility of — lower rates, and that is important.  

     

    Ana was the Mission Chief for Brazil and now is the reviewer of Brazil, so she may want to add something.  

     

    MS. CORBACHO: Yeah, I just want to say that in our baseline forecast, we do expect an improvement in the fiscal position of Brazil.  But what we have been emphasizing is that this improvement needs to be tackled and underpinned by very concrete revenue and spending measures.  Rodrigo mentioned the challenge of making the budget more flexible.  This will help Brazil have more space to respond to new spending priorities as well as shocks, unforeseen shocks.  It requires deep structural reforms in the big items of spending categories, in wages, in pensions, floors for certain items of the budget, and many more spending rigidities that are very particular to Brazil.  There’s also an agenda to foster revenue mobilization, particularly by reducing inefficient tax expenditures.  And after the groundbreaking VAT Reform, considering also reforms of personal income tax and corporate income tax.  Thank you.  

     

    MR. VALDES: If I just may add as a closing, that we will have the Regional Economic Outlook launch in Paraguay on November 4th.   The report has a couple of accompanying papers on fiscal and labor force participation, labor markets, that are pretty interesting, very detailed.  I hope useful.  Thank you.   

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Thank you, Rodrigo.  Thank you, Ana.  Thank you, Luis.  This concludes the press briefing.  

     

    SPEAKER: Question on Colombia.

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Okay.  We can take, if you agree, Colombia.   

     

    MR. VALDES: Yeah, but you should say it before.   Okay, go ahead.  

     

    QUESTIONER: You can do it in Spanish if it is easier for you.  And please, if you can answer in Spanish.   Dr. Rodrigo, for 11 years you have spoken about reforms, but I see that the reforms are really complicated.  Even today, Colombia has not been able to bring about a tax reform in order to collect $3 billion, a little billion dollars, which is just a minor amount at an international level.  What is truly recommended by the IMF so that the reforms will move forward and will not have to face the hurdles and the respective congresses, so that countries can improve their flow of investment and for the trade to truly be dynamic?  You know the history of Colombia.  We grew at 4 percent and now not even at 2 percent.  Thank you.  

     

    MR. VALDES: Thank you for the question.  I will answer in Spanish.  What you are showing is the difficulty in developing reforms.  And when we say, let us develop reforms, we do not do it in a vacuum without understanding that the policy is difficult and not because we face difficulties that would stop us from doing it.  It is key for the region to continue expediting, accelerating the development of reforms and hopefully for the benefit of growth and not only for other things.  And specifically, it is important to do it because of what you were saying, because the potential growth, even in the countries that grew faster 5 or 10 years ago, such as the Pacific Partnership or the Pacific Alliance, has reached an average again.  And we are worried that with that very low average, lower than emerging Europe and much lower than that of emerging Asia, obviously the social needs, the fiscal needs, will not be solved.  And therefore, the appeal is to double effort.  There’s no way of skipping the political effort.  

     

    MS. ZIEGLER: Okay.  If you — have any other questions, please feel free to reach out to us via email at media@imf.org.  Thank you all for attending.  

     

    *  *  *   *  *

    IMF Communications Department
    MEDIA RELATIONS

    PRESS OFFICER: Julie Ziegler

    Phone: +1 202 623-7100Email: MEDIA@IMF.org

    @IMFSpokesperson

    https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2024/10/25/tr-102524-press-briefing-western-hemisphere-department

    MIL OSI

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: SBA Offers Disaster Assistance to California Businesses and Residents Affected by the Chinatown Apartment Complex Fire

    Source: United States Small Business Administration

    “As communities across the Southeast continue to recover and rebuild after Hurricanes Helene and Milton, the SBA remains focused on its mission to provide support to small businesses to help stabilize local economies, even in the face of diminished disaster funding,” said Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman. “If your business has sustained physical damage, or you’ve lost inventory, equipment or revenues, the SBA will help you navigate the resources available and work with you at our recovery centers or with our customer service specialists in person and online so you can fully submit your disaster loan application and be ready to receive financial relief as soon as funds are replenished.”

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Low-interest federal disaster loans are available to California businesses and residents affected by the Chinatown Apartment Complex Fire that occurred Sept. 13, announced Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman of the U.S. Small Business Administration. SBA acted under its own authority to declare a disaster in response to a request SBA received from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s authorized representative, Director Nancy Ward of the California Office of Emergency Services, on Oct. 24.

    The disaster declaration makes SBA assistance available in Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Ventura counties in California.

    “When disasters strike, our Disaster Loan Outreach Centers are key to helping business owners and residents get back on their feet,” said Francisco Sánchez Jr., associate administrator for the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the Small Business Administration. “At these centers, people can connect directly with our specialists to apply for disaster loans and learn about the full range of programs available to rebuild and move forward in their recovery journey.”

    “Low-interest federal disaster loans are available to businesses of all sizes, most private nonprofit organizations, homeowners and renters whose property was damaged or destroyed by this disaster,” Sánchez continued. “Beginning Tuesday, Oct. 29, SBA customer service representatives will be on hand at the following Disaster Loan Outreach Center to answer questions about SBA’s disaster loan program, explain the application process and help each individual complete their application,” Sánchez added. The center will be open on the days and times indicated below. No appointment is necessary.

    LOS ANGELES COUNTY
    Disaster Loan Outreach Center
    Chinatown Service Center/Medical Center
    711 W. College St., Rm. 100
    Los Angeles, CA  90012

    Opens at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 29

    Mondays – Fridays, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.

    Closes at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5

    Businesses of all sizes and private nonprofit organizations may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory and other business assets.

    For small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture and most private nonprofit organizations of any size, SBA offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans to help meet working capital needs caused by the disaster. Economic injury assistance is available regardless of whether the business suffered any property damage.

    “SBA’s disaster loan program offers an important advantage–the chance to incorporate measures that can reduce the risk of future damage,” Sánchez said. “Work with contractors and mitigation professionals to strengthen your property and take advantage of the opportunity to request additional SBA disaster loan funds for these proactive improvements.”

    Disaster loans up to $500,000 are available to homeowners to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate. Homeowners and renters are eligible for up to $100,000 to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property, including personal vehicles.

    Interest rates can be as low as 4 percent for businesses, 3.25 percent for private nonprofit organizations and 2.813 percent for homeowners and renters with terms up to 30 years. Loan amounts and terms are set by SBA and are based on each applicant’s financial condition.

    Interest does not begin to accrue until 12 months from the date of the first disaster loan disbursement. SBA disaster loan repayment begins 12 months from the date of the first disbursement.

    On October 15, 2024, it was announced that funds for the Disaster Loan Program have been fully expended. While no new loans can be issued until Congress appropriates additional funding, we remain committed to supporting disaster survivors. Applications will continue to be accepted and processed to ensure individuals and businesses are prepared to receive assistance once funding becomes available.

    Applicants are encouraged to submit their loan applications promptly for review in anticipation of future funding.

    Applicants may apply online and receive additional disaster assistance information at SBA.gov/disaster. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

    The deadline to apply for property damage is Dec. 24, 2024. The deadline to apply for economic injury is July 25, 2025.

    ###

    About the U.S. Small Business Administration

    The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit http://www.sba.gov.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: CORRECTION – Sift Reinvents Account Takeover Prevention Across the Consumer Journey, Integrates with Leading CIAM Platforms

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — In a release issued on October 24, 2024 under the same headline by SIFT, please note that in the sub headline and first paragraph references to $1.9 million per week have been corrected to $4.2 million per year. The corrected release follows: 

    Sift’s ATO solution prevents a median of up to $4.2 million per year in fraud losses per customer

    Sift, the AI-powered fraud platform securing digital trust for leading global businesses, today announced its latest quarterly product update, featuring an enhanced solution to protect businesses from account takeover (ATO) fraud throughout the entire consumer journey. Sift’s detailed analysis of its customers shows that its ATO solution prevents a median of up to $4.2 million per year in fraud losses per customer. Its comprehensive approach ensures that organizations can safeguard their users from point of login to post-transaction, addressing the growing threat of ATO that resulted in nearly $13 billion in losses in 2023 alone.

    Fueled by a digitally-driven economy, ATO attacks increased 24% in Q2 2024 compared to the same period last year, when attacks skyrocketed by 354% according to Sift research from 2023. Traditional solutions that seek to stop account theft only at the point of login often fall short, leaving businesses vulnerable to attacks that occur at different points of the consumer journey. Exacerbating the problem is that ATO often lives between the cracks within organizations, making it an “orphan” threat with no clear owner between Fraud and Security departments. Sift allows these departments to collaborate and take ownership of ATO by uniting data and workflows that are accessible to both.

    Key Advancements with new Sift ATO solution:

    • Identity-Centric Accuracy: AI-powered insights, real-time behavioral analysis, and expanded device fingerprinting provide richer context around risk and user intent throughout the consumer journey.
    • Powerful Integrations: Unify and extend existing Customer Identity Access Management (CIAM) workflows through low-code integrations, including Ping Identity PingOne DaVinci and Okta Auth0, accelerating time to value and strengthening identity management investments across the security tech stack.
    • Fine-Tuned Controls: Robust MFA capabilities and continuous monitoring after login deliver precise friction at the session level. Pre-built, industry-specific automations generate immediate impact out of the box.

    “Account takeover is a deeply connected problem that impacts multiple facets of a business, from cybersecurity to finance,” said Raviv Levi, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Sift. “Traditional approaches often result in fragmented data and incomplete insights, making it difficult to fully understand and mitigate the impact of ATO. Sift’s unique approach unites departments and data, providing a single source of truth for ATO prevention and removing barriers to revenue.”

    Additional innovations from Sift this quarter include advanced behavior signals and VIP Fast Pass controls for high velocity transaction industries like iGaming and Fintech, as well as expanded RiskWatch functionality for faster, more insightful manual reviews.

    For more information about Sift’s revamped ATO solution and other innovations, visit the Sift Blog here.

    About Sift
    Sift is the AI-powered fraud platform securing digital trust for leading global businesses. Our deep investments in machine learning and user identity, a data network scoring 1 trillion events per year, and a commitment to long-term customer success empower more than 700 customers to grow fearlessly. Brands including DoorDash, Yelp, and Poshmark rely on Sift to unlock growth and deliver seamless consumer experiences. Visit us at sift.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

    Media Contact:
    Victor White
    VP, Corporate Communications, Sift
    press@sift.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Cardin, Van Hollen, Mfume React to Federal Government’s Initial $102 Million Settlement with Dali Owner, Operator

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Maryland Ben Cardin

    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen and Congressmen Kweisi Mfume (all D-Md.), released the following statement on the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) $101,980,000 settlement with the owner and operator of the Dali, the vessel that destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The settlement, according to DOJ, will cover federal costs incurred to restore access to the Port of Baltimore.
    “The catastrophic loss of the Francis Scott Key Bridge required a massive and coordinated response from all levels of government and the private sector. Those efforts removed about 50,000 tons of debris from the Patapsco River and cleared the shipping channel faster than anyone predicted. The initial settlement that the U.S. Justice Department reached for cleanup costs is an important step in holding accountable the owner and operator of the Dali, the ship that caused this disaster,” said the lawmakers. “The federal government has properly stepped up to underwrite urgent and essential needs with an expectation that the appropriate parties will be held financially responsible for their actions. Congress should now act quickly to pass the Baltimore BRIDGE Relief Act, which will ensure full federal backing of the bridge replacement costs, while the Justice Department, State of Maryland and other stakeholders keep up their work to reimburse the taxpayers to the fullest extent possible and provide justice for the families of those we lost.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Mfume, Cardin, Van Hollen React to Federal Government’s Initial $101.9 Million Settlement with Dali Owner, Operator

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Kweisi Mfume (MD-07)

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Congressman Kweisi Mfume, Senators Ben Cardinand Chris Van Hollen (all D-Md.), released the following statement on the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) $101,980,000 settlement with the owner and operator of the Dali, the vessel that destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The settlement, according to DOJ, will cover federal costs incurred to restore access to the Port of Baltimore.

    “The catastrophic loss of the Francis Scott Key Bridge required a massive and coordinated response from all levels of government and the private sector. Those efforts removed about 50,000 tons of debris from the Patapsco River and cleared the shipping channel faster than anyone predicted. The initial settlement that the U.S. Justice Department reached for cleanup costs is an important step in holding accountable the owner and operator of the Dali, the ship that caused this disaster,” said the lawmakers. “The federal government has properly stepped up to underwrite urgent and essential needs with an expectation that the appropriate parties will be held financially responsible for their actions. Congress should now act quickly to pass the Baltimore BRIDGE Relief Act, which will ensure full federal backing of the bridge replacement costs, while the Justice Department, State of Maryland and other stakeholders keep up their work to reimburse the taxpayers to the fullest extent possible and provide justice for the families of those we lost.”

    ###

     

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Casey, Colleagues Urge Biden Administration to Combat China’s Illegal Fentanyl Trafficking

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Pennsylvania Bob Casey

    Senators urge Administration to impose trade countermeasures to stop China from sending fentanyl into the United States

    Over 97 percent of all illicit fentanyl present in the U.S. originates in China

    Senators: “China’s state-sponsored policy is to profit from Americans’ deaths. […] A whole-of-government approach is necessary to stop the fentanyl crisis, hold China accountable, and save lives”

    Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) joined his Senate colleagues in calling on the Biden Administration to investigate and take new action to stop China’s relentless export of illicit fentanyl into the United States. China has become the leading exporter of the precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl with over 97 percent of all illicit fentanyl present in the U.S. originating in China. The Senators pressed the Administration to impose trade countermeasures on China for its direct role in supporting the illicit fentanyl trade.

    “China’s state-sponsored policy is to profit from Americans’ deaths. As Senators who represent thousands of families deeply impacted by illicit fentanyl, we have seen that fentanyl doesn’t just hurt the health of our states’ population, it also leaves economic destruction in its wake. […] A whole-of-government approach is necessary to stop the fentanyl crisis, hold China accountable, and save lives,” wrote the Senators.

    The Senators detailed how China’s ongoing manufacturing and shipment of illicit fentanyl is directly subsidized by the Chinese government. The Senators called on U.S Trade Representative Katherine Tai to support a Section 301 tariff petition filed by Facing Fentanyl, Inc., a national coalition of thousands of families and over 200 fentanyl awareness organizations. Section 301 tariffs are imposed when a foreign nation engages in unfair trade practices. The United States has repeatedly imposed Section 301 tariffs on China due to a recurring and ongoing practice of illegal behavior, including in 2018 to combat unfair trade practices such as forced technology transfer, theft of intellectual property, and overproduction of commodities to distort fair market prices.

    Senator Casey has led efforts in the Senate to prevent the spread of fentanyl into the United States. He has traveled around Pennsylvania meeting with law enforcement and families of victims of fentanyl overdoses as he pushed for passage of the FEND Off Fentanyl Act. In October and November 2023, Senator Casey sent multiple letters to President Biden urging his Administration to focus diplomatic conversations with China on the role of the Chinese government in the illicit fentanyl supply chain and demanding meaningful action to combat this crisis. In January, Casey introduced the Stop Fentanyl at the Border Act, a bill to reduce the flow of fentanyl by increasing staffing capacity and technology to detect illicit drugs being smuggled through ports of entry along the southwest border. In July, Casey applauded the Senate passage of the?Preventing the Financing of Illegal Synthetic Drugs Act,?a bill that will direct the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate how transnational criminal organizations finance synthetic drug trafficking and help the federal government target them more effectively. In August, Casey led his colleagues in introducing the bipartisan?Fighting Illicit Goods, Helping Trustworthy Importers, and Netting Gains (FIGHTING) for America Act?to help CBP prevent fentanyl from entering the country undetected. In September, Casey introduced the Interdiction of Fentanyl at Federal Prisons Act, which would protect prison officers, staff, and inmates from fentanyl and other illicit substances entering the Federal Prison System through inmate mail. 

    In addition to Senator Casey, the letter is signed by Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Tina Smith (D-MN).

    Read the read the full letter to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai HERE or below:  

    Dear Ambassador Tai:

    We write regarding the Section 301 petition filed by Facing Fentanyl, Inc. – a national coalition of over 200 fentanyl awareness organizations and thousands of families – to request that the Administration impose trade countermeasures on the People’s Republic of China (PRC) given the fact that “its government and companies—[are] engaged in a devastating and unrelenting attack on the United States through the export of illicit fentanyl, a lethal poison.” Illicit fentanyl and its precursors have not only caused irreparable harm to the health of American families and communities, but also to the health of our economy. In light of these harms, we write in strong support of this petition and encourage its full and fair evaluation.

    Nothing happens in the PRC without express approval of its government – making the ongoing, unrelenting manufacture and shipment of fentanyl and its precursor chemicals a direct, government-sponsored assault on the American people. The Chinese government directly subsidizes the production of illicit fentanyl materials through tax rebates, awards grants to companies openly trafficking illicit fentanyl online, and holds ownership interests in companies trafficking illicit fentanyl materials. In other words, China’s state-sponsored policy is to profit from Americans’ deaths. As Senators who represent thousands of families deeply impacted by illicit fentanyl, we have seen that fentanyl doesn’t just hurt the health of our states’ population, it also leaves economic destruction in its wake. This problem requires a whole of government approach to combatting China’s unfair and harmful strategies intended to harm the American public and economy.

    As you know, Section 301 tariffs are imposed when a foreign nation engages in unfair trade practices – in essence, when another country cheats at the rules of international trade. The United States has repeatedly imposed Section 301 tariffs upon the PRC due to a recurring and ongoing practice of trade distorting behavior, including in 2018 to combat unfair trade practices regarding technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation. This petition represents a critical next step in addressing China’s trade cheating.

    The impacts of the fentanyl crisis are felt in every community and across the United States, which has the highest rate of fentanyl overdose deaths of any high-income country. On average, fentanyl kills 200 Americans daily, and has killed nearly 75,000 people in the last year alone. This loss of life is first and foremost tragic and devastating, and it is directly due to the PRC’s support and subsidies for the production and export of fentanyl and the chemicals that can be used to make the deadly drug.  The result is that China has “cornered the market” on fentanyl. It is the source of 97 percent of the world’s fentanyl, and it designed this poison to be more lethal and undetectable – with the result being that many killed by fentanyl had no idea they were ingesting this drug.

    In addition to widespread overdose deaths, the prevalence of fentanyl has had an enormously detrimental effect on the United States economy. The strain on the healthcare system and the diversion of law enforcement resources all contribute to an extreme burden on United States commerce. These consequences directly stem from one source: the PRC’s direct role in and support for the illicit fentanyl trade. Nearly all fentanyl precursors used to manufacture illicit fentanyl come from China. Significant work in Congress has been done to hold China accountable for these horrific policies. Earlier this year, Congress passed the FEND Off Fentanyl Act, which imposes new sanctions and anti-money laundering penalties targeting the illicit fentanyl supply chain. Diplomatic efforts should be acknowledged as well. We have even seen a welcome decline in the number of unintentional overdose deaths in America, but this reprieve will not last without action.

    These are important steps, but more must be done. A whole-of-government approach is necessary to stop the fentanyl crisis, hold China accountable, and save lives. This petition offers new opportunity to enforce U.S. law to protect American citizens and our economy. Through Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, USTR has an opportunity to directly address the root of over 97 percent of the illicit fentanyl coming into the U.S. Petitioners request trade countermeasures including: tariffs on specific manufacturers and broad sectors that are complicit in fentanyl production, mobile application restrictions, outbound investment restrictions, and complete closure of the de minimis loophole. Every available tool should be considered to help our nation grapple with this crisis.

    Although the network of how fentanyl travels can be complex, the source is not. The manufacturing and distribution of illicit fentanyl that gets into our country is the active, conscious policy choice of the PRC. The government of the United States must fight back on behalf of the families and communities that have been devastated by this crisis using every tool we have. It is imperative that USTR carefully evaluate this Section 301 petition and take every step possible to hold to account those making and shipping this poison into the United States.

    Thank you for your consideration of this critically important issue.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: SUNDAY: Governor Newsom to unveil major proposal to bolster California’s film and TV industry

    Source: US State of California Governor

    Oct 25, 2024

    LOS ANGELES COUNTY – Sunday, in Los Angeles County, Governor Newsom will unveil a major proposal to bolster the state’s film and television industry.

    California is home to the largest share of the film and TV economy in the United States. Film and TV production in California supports over 700,000 jobs and nearly $70 billion in wages for in-state workers.

    WHEN: Sunday, October 27th at 1:45pm PT 
    LIVESTREAM: CA Governor Twitter page, CA Governor Facebook page, and the CA Governor YouTube page.

    **NOTE: This press event will be open to credentialed media only. Media interested in attending must RSVP to govpressoffice@gov.ca.gov by no later than 11 a.m., October 27. Information will be provided in the RSVP confirmation note.

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    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Duckworth, Jacobs Seek to Protect IVF Coverage in Final NDAA

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Illinois Tammy Duckworth

    October 25, 2024

    [WASHINGTON, D.C.] — U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Sara Jacobs (D-CA-51) continued their push to ensure the final FY2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) preserves language contained in both the Senate-reported and House-passed versions of the NDAA that would require TRICARE coverage of fertility services, including in vitro fertilization (IVF), for our nation’s servicemembers. In a letter to Senate and House Armed Services Committee leadership, the lawmakers—who authored and successfully secured inclusion of the IVF coverage provisions in the Senate and House bills, respectively—called for servicemembers and military families to receive the same level of IVF coverage that’s accessible to Members of Congress and federal employees next year. Senator Duckworth is a combat Veteran who served in the Reserve Forces for 23 years and is a member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC).

    “We strongly believe U.S. servicemembers and military families deserve fertility benefit coverage in 2025 that is at least comparable to what Members of Congress will receive,” the lawmakers wrote. “It would be hypocritical for Members of Congress to enjoy high quality fertility benefit coverage next year, right on the heels of denying such IVF coverage to brave Americans willing to defend our country in uniform, and the dedicated military families that sacrifice to support their loved ones’ service to our great country.”

    Two-thirds of servicemembers, who often spend their prime reproductive years in hazardous conditions and away from their partners, have reported experiencing family-building challenges after returning home. As a result, many TRICARE beneficiaries pay tens of thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs for fertility treatment. Expanding IVF coverage would strengthen recruitment, retention and readiness efforts—all while supporting those who have sacrificed greatly for the United States.

    “Failing to provide high-quality IVF coverage through TRICARE would perpetuate an unfair system that forces military families to confront an impossible and unjust choice between serving their country in uniform or starting a family without the risk of financial ruin,” the lawmakers concluded. “We are gravely concerned that this will inevitably deter recruitment and retention efforts and ultimately decrease our Nation’s military readiness. Providing U.S. servicemembers and military families with robust IVF coverage is the least we can do for those Americans who have sacrificed so much for us.”

    A full copy of the letter is available below and on Rep. Jacobs website:

    Dear Chairman Reed, Ranking Member Wicker, Chairman Rogers, and Ranking Member Smith:

    Because of hard work conducted under your respective leadership of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) and House Armed Services Committee (HASC), Congress is poised to ensure the final legislative text of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 (NDAA) preserves language contained in both the House-passed and Senate-reported versions of the NDAA that require TRICARE cover fertility services, including in vitro fertilization (IVF).

    Accordingly, we write to request that in negotiating the final conference report to accompany the NDAA, you ensure U.S. servicemembers and military families receive IVF coverage in 2025 that is on par with the IVF coverage Members of Congress and Federal employees will be provided access to in 2025 by taking one of these courses of action:

    • House recedes regarding Section 701 of H.R. 8070, and the final bill includes Section 705 of S. 4638;
    • Senate recedes regarding Section 705 of S. 4638 and the final bill includes Section 701 of H.R. 8070; or
    • The final bill merges and harmonizes Sections 701 and 705.

    Since HASC added the provisions (sec. 701) requiring TRICARE cover fertility services, including IVF, by voice vote without controversy; and then House Republicans chose to preserve these Democratic-authored provisions in the version of the NDAA that the House narrowly passed along party-lines; we are hopeful that achieving fertility benefit parity between Members of Congress, Federal employees and members of the U.S. Armed Forces can avoid controversy and be preserved in the final NDAA that President Joe Biden signs into law.

    In the coming months, Members of the U.S. House of Representatives and United States Senators will have the opportunity to select health insurance from 2025 marketplace plans that all include high quality, affordable fertility benefit coverage—including excellent IVF coverage that, absent action by Congress, will be far superior to the restrictive fertility benefit coverage offered to U.S. servicemembers and military families under current law. Under the Federal Employees Health Benefits program, Federal employees will also receive high quality fertility benefit coverage, including IVF, in 2025.

    Importantly, every Member of Congress will be able to enroll in a 2025 marketplace plan that covers IVF services provided in accordance with widely accepted and evidence-based medical standards of care and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine’s (ASRM) professional guidelines—which includes coverage of at least three complete oocyte retrievals with unlimited embryo transfers from those oocyte retrievals, and standard fertility preservation services.

    We strongly believe U.S. servicemembers and military families deserve fertility benefit coverage in 2025 that is at least comparable to what Members of Congress will receive.

    It would be hypocritical for Members of Congress to enjoy high quality fertility benefit coverage next year, right on the heels of denying such IVF coverage to brave Americans willing to defend our country in uniform, and the dedicated military families that sacrifice to support their loved ones’ service to our great country. That is why we strongly agree with the position taken by a broad coalition of Military Service Organizations (MSOs) and Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs) that these MSOs and VSOs expressed to you in their October 10, 2024, joint letter:

    ‘The health care benefit is an earned benefit and an essential part of military compensation. Coverage should not be contingent on a service member’s willingness or ability to accept an additional service commitment. For that reason, we caution Congress against adopting Section 627 of S. 4638, which would require a service member benefiting from expanded reproductive health coverage to accept an additional service commitment of four years. Again, military members deserve coverage that is on par with civilian plans, and civilian plans make no such demands of their beneficiaries [emphasis added].’

    We share the opposition of MSOs and VSOs to including Section 627 of S. 4638 in the final bill text because it falls woefully short of providing servicemembers and their families with comparable coverage to the coverage Members of Congress receive. Unfortunately, Section 627 goes beyond TRICARE fertility coverage requirements and injects controversial and divisive language relating to abortion services and embryonic personhood, which are contrary to the bipartisan tradition of the NDAA and distract from what should be our overriding priority: making sure that in 2025, U.S. servicemembers and military families receive high quality and affordable fertility services coverage that is on par with fertility benefits that Members of Congress and Federal employees will receive in the coming year.

    Servicemembers are disproportionately impacted by infertility and face unique challenges in trying to start and build their families. Two-thirds of servicemembers, who often spend their prime reproductive years in hazardous conditions and away from their partners, have reported family-building challenges due to military service. Most TRICARE beneficiaries must pay out of pocket for fertility treatment, costing tens of thousands of dollars, all while navigating challenging duty station moves and a complex healthcare system bureaucracy.

    Failing to provide high-quality IVF coverage through TRICARE would perpetuate an unfair system that forces military families to confront an impossible and unjust choice between serving their country in uniform or starting a family without the risk of financial ruin. We are gravely concerned that this will inevitably deter recruitment and retention efforts and ultimately decrease our Nation’s military readiness. Providing U.S. servicemembers and military families with robust IVF coverage is the least we can do for those Americans who have sacrificed so much for us.

    We thank you in advance for your consideration of our request to make sure that we complete the mission of ensuring members of the U.S. Armed Forces achieve parity with Members of Congress and the civil service by finalizing a conference report and passing a NDAA that, for the first time in history, requires TRICARE cover fertility services, including IVF, without harmful and onerous restrictions that violate widely accepted and evidence-based medical standards of care and fail to comport with ASRM professional guidance.

    Sincerely,

    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA News: Remarks by President  Biden on the Biden-⁠ Harris Administration’s Record of Delivering for Tribal Communities, Including Keeping His Promise to Make this Historic Visit to Indian Country | Laveen Village,  AZ

    Source: The White House

    Gila Crossing Community School
    Laveen Village, Arizona

    10:44 A.M. MST

    PRESIDENT BIDEN:  I’m Joe Biden.  I’m Jill Biden’s husband  (Laughter.)

    Gov, thank you for that introduction and to the Gila Indian River Community — the — Gila — yeah, Gila — nothing wrong with me — (laughter) — Gila River Indian Community for welcoming me today. 

    You know — (applause) — I say this with all sincerity, this, to me, is one the most consequential things I’ve ever had an opportunity to do in my whole career and as president of the United States.  It’s an honor — a genuine honor to be in this special place on this special day. 

    Thank you to Senator Mark Kelly, a great friend, who also is married to an incredible woman who is my friend. 

    Please have a seat, by the way.  (Laughter.)

    And Congressman Greg Stanton.  I saw Greg when I came in.  He’s over there somewhere.  Greg, thank you.

    And I’m putting these glasses on because I’m having trouble seeing this. 

    And all the elected leaders and the Tribal community leaders for being here. 

    You know, I can’t tell you what a special thanks I have for Deb Haaland, my Interior secretary.  I was determined — (applause) — I was determined — I made a commitment when I became president to have an administration that looked like America.  Except you’re America, and there’s — never has been — never has been a Native American, an Indigenous person who was on — in the Cabinet or in a — in the secretary’s job or any consequential job in a presidential administration.

    She’s the first — but it’s clearly not the last — Native American Cabinet secretary ever.  (Applause.)  And her historic and dedicated leadership is strengthening the relationship between the Tribal Nations and the federal government — is unlike ever happened before. 

    That’s why we’re here today. 

    You know, when I got to the Senate, I was only 29 years old.  I had to wait 17 days to be eligible.  And I had — after I got elected, w- — while I waiting, my wife and daughter were killed and my two boys were badly injured.

    And a guy that came to my assistance was a guy named Danny Inouye.  And the first thing he taught me — not a joke — was, “Joe, it is not ‘Indians.’  It’s ‘Indian Nations’ — Indian N-” — (applause) — No, I — he was serious, deadly earnest about it.

    It’s been 10 years since a sitting president — president came and visited Indian Country.  That’s simply much too long.

    And that’s why I am here today not only to fulfil my promise to be a president that — first president to visit Indian Country but, more importantly, to right a wrong, to chart a new path toward a better future for us all.

    I am also here because, as I said, my wife Jill has been here 10 times in Indian Country, literally.  The first lady sends her love and said, “Joe, make sure you come home.”  (Laughter.)  Because every time she goes — she spent a lot of time in, excuse me for saying this, the Navajo Nation.  I’m worried — (applause) — every time she goes, I’m worried she’s not coming home.  (Laughter.)

    I watched that beautiful performance just now, and it moved me deeply.  It’s a reminder of everything Native people enjoy and employ: sacred traditions, culture passed down over thousands of — thousands of years.  (Applause.)  

    Long before there was a United States, Native communities flourished on these lands.  They practiced democratic government before we ever heard of it, developed advanced agriculture, contributed to science, art, and culture.  (Applause.)

    But eventually, the United States was established and began expanding, entering treaties with sovereign Tribal Nations.  But as time moved on, respect for s- — for Tribal sovereignty evaporated, was shattered, pushing Native people off their homelands, denying — denying their humanity and their rights, targeting children to cut their connection to their ancestors and their inheritance and their heritage. 

    At first, in the 19- — 1800s, the effort was voluntary, asking Tribes to sell their children — to send their children away to vocational schools.  But then — then the federal government mandated — mandated the removal of children from their families and Tribes, launching what’s called the Federal Indian Boarding School era — era.  Over a 150-year span — 150 years — from the early 1800s to 1870 — to 1970.  One of the most horrific chapters in American history.  We should be ashamed.  A chapter that most Americans don’t know about.  The vast majority don’t even know about it. 

    I was — I was at my hotel today.  I told the pe- — the hotel staff, as we were leaving.  They said, “Where are you going?”  I told them.  They said, “What are you doing?”  I told them.  They said they’re Natives here.  They said, “I never knew that.  I never knew that.”  Think of how many people don’t know.

    As president, I believe it’s imper- — important that we do know — know generations of Native children stolen, taken away to places they didn’t know with people they never met who spoke a language they had never heard.  Native communities silenced.  Their children’s laughter and play were gone. 

    Children would arrive at schools.  Their clothes taken off.  Their hair that they were told was sacred was chopped off.  Their names literally erased and replaced by a number or an English name. 

    One survivor later recounted her days when taken away.  She said, quote, “My mother standing on that sidewalk as we loaded into a green bus.  I can see the image of my mom burned into my mind and my heart where she was crying.”

    Another survivor described what it was like at the boarding school, and I quote, “When I would talk in my Tribal language, I would get hit.  I lost my tongue.  They beat me every day.”

    Children abused — emotionally, physically, and sexually abused.  Forced into hard labor.  Some put up for adoption without the consent of their birth parents.  Some left for dead in unmarked graves. 

    And for those who did return home, they were wounded in body and in spirit — trauma and shame passed down through generations. 

    The policy continued even after the Civil Rights Act, which got me involved in politics as a young man.  Even after the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, it continued. 

    All told, hundreds and hundreds of Federal Indian Boarding Schools across the country.  Tens of thousands of Native children entered the system.  Nearly 1,000 documented Native child deaths, though the real number is likely to be much, much higher; lost generations, culture, and language; lost trust. 

    It’s horribly, horribly wrong.  It’s a sin on our soul.

    I’d like to ask, with your permission, for a moment of silence as we remember those lost and the generations living with that trauma. 

    (A moment of silence is observed.)

    After 150 years, the United States government eventually stopped the program, but the federal government has never — never — formally apologized for what happened until today. 

    I formally apologize — (applause) — as president of the United States of America, for what we did.  I formally apologize.  And it’s long overdue.

    At the Tribal school — at a Tribal school in Arizona, a community full of tradition and culture, and joined by survivors and descendants to do just that: apologize, apologize, apolo- — rewrite the history book correctly.  (Applause.)

    I have a solemn responsibility to be the first president to formally apologize to the Native peoples — Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, Native Alaskans — and [at] Federal Indian Boarding Schools. 

    It’s long, long, long overdue.  Quite frankly, there’s no excuse that this apology took 50 years to make. 

    The Federal Indian Boarding School policy and the pain it has caused will always be a significant mark of shame, a blot on American history. 

    For too long, this all happened with virtually no public attention, not written about in our history books —

    AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Yeah, what about the people in Gaza?

    THE PRESIDENT:  — not taught in our schools.

    AUDIENCE MEMBER:  What about the people in Palestine, huh?

    (Cross-talk.)

    AUDIENCE:  Booo —

    AUDIENCE MEMBER:  (Inaudible.)

    THE PRESIDENT:  Let her talk.  Let her talk.

    AUDIENCE MEMBER:  (Inaudible) empty promise for our people.  How can you apologize for a genocide while committing a genocide in Palestine?

    Free Palestine!  Free Palestine!

    AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Get out of here!

    AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Free Palestine!

    THE PRESIDENT:  No, no.  Let — let her go.  There’s a lot of innocent people being killed. 

    AUDIENCE MEMBER:  (Inaudible.)

    THE PRESIDENT:  There’s a lot of innocent people being killed, and it has to stop.

    For those — (applause) — for those who went through this period, it was too painful to speak of.  For our nation, it was too shameful to acknowledge.  But just because history is silent doesn’t mean it didn’t take place.  It did take place.  (Applause.)

    While darkness can hide much, it erases nothing.  It erases nothing.  Some injustices are heinous, horrific, and grievous.  They can’t be buried, no matter how hard people try. 

    As I’ve said throughout my presidency, we must know the good, the bad, the truth of who we are as a nation.  That’s what great nations do.  We’re a great nation.  We’re the greatest of nations.  We do not erase history; we make history.  We learn from history, and we remember so we can heal as a nation.  It takes remembering.

    This formal apology is the culmination of decades of work by so many courageous people, many of whom are here today: survivors and descendants, allies and advocates — like the nation’s Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition and other — (applause) —

    All of you who are part of that, stand up.  Stand up.  (Applause.)  As my grandfather would say, you’re doing God’s work.

    And other courageous leaders who spent decades shining a light on this dark chapter.  And leaders like Secretary Haaland, whose grandparents were children at one of those boarding schools. 

    U.S. Interior Department, the same department that long ago oversaw Federal Indian Boarding Schools — guess what? — the extensive work on the — breaking ground, it’s happened with her.  It’s appropriate that she is bringing an end to what that very agency did.  (Applause.)  Groundbreaking report documenting what happened. 

    We owe it to all of you across Indian Country.  The truth — the truth must be told.  And the truth must be heard all across America. 

    But this official apolocy [apology] is only one step toward and forward from the shadows of failed policies of the past.  That’s why I’ve committed to working with Indigenous communities across the country to write a new and better chapter of our — in our history, to honor the solemn promise the United States made to Tribal Nations, to fulfill our federal trust and treaty obligations.  It’s long, long, long overdue.  (Applause.)

    And I say this with all sincerity, from day one, my administration, Jill and I, Kamala and Secretary Haaland, our entire administration have worked to include Indigenous voices in all we do.  Along with Secretary Haaland, I’ve appointed Native Americans to lead across the federal government.

    I signed a groundbreaking executive order to give Tribes the — more autonomy to make your own decisions — (applause) — requiring federal agencies to streamline grant appro- — grant appropriations and applications, to comanage federal programs, to eliminate heavy-handed reporting requirements.  It’s about representing your autonomy.  And, I might add, it’s a hell of a lot more efficient when you do it too.  (Applause.)

    Folks, I’m proud to have reestablished the White House Council on Native American Affairs — (applause); relaunched the White House Tribal Na- — Tribal Nations Summit — (applause); and taken historic steps to improve Tribal consultation.  (Applause.) 

    With the historic laws I’ve signed, we’re making some of the most significant investments in Native communities ever — ever in American history. 

    It’s part of my Invest in America agenda, and it’s helping all Americans from every state and every Tribe, and that’s good for all America. 

    Helping Native communities get through the pandemic with vaccine shots in arms and checks in pockets. 

    I’m proud this helped cut child poverty in Native communities by more than one third.  (Applause.) 

    I’m proud our economy — our economic plan has created 200,000 jobs for Native Americans, record-low [un]employment in Native communities. 

    With the strong support from Secretary Haaland and all of you, we’re finally modernizing Tribal infrastructure, for God’s sake — (applause) — building new roads, new bridges; delivering clean water, affordable high-speed broadband in every Native community; and so much more. 

    Folks, we’re just getting started.  We’re making historic climate investments in clean energy, conservation, and clean water [for] Native communities, including co-stewardships of our land and waters. 

    We just des- — designated the first National Marine Sancrutary — Sanctuary proposed by Indigenous communities, which is off the coast of California.  We just got that done.  (Applause.)  And I have restored and designated multiple national monuments to honor Tribal Nations, including the Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon, right here in Arizona, where I had the honor of visiting.  (Applause.)  It was breathtaking.  It was breathtaking.

    I secured the first-ever advanced funding for Indian Health Services — (applause) — so Tribal hospitals can plan ahead, order supplies, hire doctors and know that the money will be there.  (Applause.)  

    We’re also preserving ancestral Tribal homelands, restoring salmon and other native fish, recognizing the value of Indigenous knowledge and languages, especially those damaged in the boarding school era. 

    In fact, my administration was proud to defend the Indian Child Welfare Act — (applause) — an act that was passed in 1970 [1978] in no small part to remedy the harms of 150 years of taking Native children away from their families. 

    But you all know, that act was challenged just a few years ago in the summer of 2023.  Those who opposed us challenged — challenged on the grounds that Native families should not have priority over everyone else in adopting Native children.  Well, I took that all the way to the Supreme Court and we won.  We won.  (Applause.)

    We also extended mental health programs through the Bureau of Indian Education so young people have the tools to end cycles of generational trauma. 

    As an educator, this is something Jill cares deeply about, my wife, just as she’s traveled across Native communities to increase access to health care and so much more, including helping open the first cancer cure [care] center in Navajo Nation.  (Applause.)

    And more to do — a lot more to do.

    And, by the way, the infrastructure bill is over a trillion dollars.  It’s not a decade.  I mean, it’s not a quarter.  It’s going to be there for a decade.  Much, much more to come, and you got to get your fair share.   

    By [re]authorizing the Violence Against Women Act — an Act I took great pains in writing 30 years ago, we also — (applause) — we also reasirmed [reaffirmed] Tribal sovereignty and expanded Tribal jurisdiction in cases where outside predators [perpetrators] harm members of your Nation. 

    And as we mark Native Americans History Month in November — this November, we recognize the contributions of Indigenous people in — to American history.  You — you are the first Americans.  I might add, you’re among the most patriotic Americans.  (Applause.)  Well, that’s a fact.  The whole of America should know, all Americans should know Indigenous people volunteer to serve in the United States military five times more than any other single group.  (Applause.)  Five times.  Five.  Five.  Five.  (Applause.)  Many having paid the ultimate sacrifice in every war since our founding. 

    To all of you, thank you — thank you for serving in so many ways — as first responders, artists, entrepreneurs, educators, doctors, scientists, and so much more — sharing your culture and your knowledge for the good of future generations, believing in possibilities — the possibility to usher in a new era to a nation-to-nation relationship grounded in dignity and respect.  It matters. 

    My dad used to have an expression.  He’d say, “Joey, everyone — everyone — is entitled to be treated with dignity.  Everyone.”  “Everyone is enti-” — he meant it.  (Applause.)

    Well, let me close with this.  It’s about restoring your dignity.

    I know no apology can or will make up for what was lost during the darkness of the Federal Boarding School policy.  But today, we’re finally moving forward into the light. 

    As president of the United States, I’ve had the honor to bestow our nation’s most prestigious medals to distinguished people and organizations all across America.  That includes Native Americans who survived the boarding school era. 

    Early in my term, I bestowed the Medal of Freedom — our highest civilian honor — on a man my grandfather, who was an Irish immigrant and was not treated very well because he was an Irish Catholic in the coal-mine era in Scranton — but he went on to be an all-American football player at Santa Clara.  And every time they’d talk about all-Americans, he’d say, “Joey, the greatest athlete in American history is Jim Thorpe.”  (Applause.)  Oh, I’m seri- — I knew a lot about Jim Thorpe before some of you probably even knew.  (Laughter.)

    As a child, Jim was taken from his home but went on to become one of the greatest athletes ever, ever, ever in all of American history. 

    And earlier this week, I bestowed two other revere- — revered medals — the National Medals of Arts and the National Medal of the Humanities — to 39 extraordinary Americans and organizations, including Roseta Wrol [Rosita Worl], an Alaskan Native.  (Applause.) 

    More than 80 years ago, she was a six-year-old when she was taken to a federal boarding school.  She spent three years without her family, her family not knowing if she’d ever come home.  Nine years old, she was one of those who did come home. 

    Over the next seven decades, she became a leading anthropologist and advocate, building a new era of understanding.  Her story, from being taken from her home as child to standing in the Oval Office receiving one of the nation’s most consequential medals, is a story of the truth, the power of healing. 

    When Roseta [Rosita] sees young people signing tradi- — singing traditional songs, just like we heard today, she says, and I quote, “We will hear the voices of our ancestors, and we are now hearing it through our children.”

    For too long, this nation sought to silence the voices of generations of Native children, but now your voices are being heard.    

    That’s the America that we should be.  That’s the America we can all be proud of.  That’s who we are.  For God’s sake, let’s make sure we reach out and embrace, because you make us stronger.  You are America.

    God bless you all.  And may God protect our troops. 

    Thank you.  (Applause.)

    11:07 A.M. MST

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Horsford Applauds New Lithium Project Bringing Jobs and Critical Minerals to Nevada

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressmen Steven Horsford (NV-04)

    NORTH LAS VEGAS – Today, Congressman Steven Horsford applauded the approval of the Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron project, an important milestone towards advancing America’s clean energy future and securing a domestic supply of critical minerals. As an early supporter of the project, Congressman Horsford played a key role in ensuring its progress, working closely with the Department of the Interior and the Council on Environmental Quality. 

    “I’m proud to have America’s most advanced new lithium project right here in Nevada’s Fourth Congressional District,” said Congressman Horsford. “This project reinforces Nevada’s leadership as the only state with significant lithium production and strengthens our country’s domestic reliance on a critical mineral essential for fighting climate change. The Rhyolite Ridge project will power our transition to clean energy, create hundreds of good-paying jobs, and boost our local economy.” 

    The Rhyolite Ridge project will provide enough lithium to power nearly 370,000 electric vehicles annually, supporting the Biden-Harris Administration’s climate goals. Located in Nevada’s Fourth District, this project cements Nevada’s role as a leader in lithium production and ensures long-term economic benefits through the creation of up to 500 construction jobs and 350 permanent jobs during operations. The mine is expected to generate $125 million in annual wages, providing significant economic support to local communities, including job training and scholarship opportunities. 

    Environmental protections are a key part of the project’s design. The Bureau of Land Management and the project developers collaborated with federal agencies to protect Tiehm’s buckwheat, a rare plant found only in the project area. Conservation measures include redesigning project features to limit impacts on the plant and developing a formal protection plan. 

    The Rhyolite Ridge mine will also produce boron, a material essential for industries such as glass and semiconductors, further expanding the project’s economic and technological significance.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: NZ investing in Pacific disaster preparedness & climate resilience

    Source: New Zealand Government

    New Zealand will contribute $20 million to the Pacific Resilience Facility, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters have announced.

    “The Pacific Islands region faces severe challenges from natural disasters and climate change impacts and New Zealand is committed to doing its part to help meet them,” Mr Luxon says. 

    “We’re joining with other countries in helping to progress the Pacific Resilience Facility, which will encourage public and private sector investment in preparedness for natural disasters and resilience to the effects of climate change.” 

    Mr Peters says the Pacific Resilience Facility will help ensure Pacific Island countries have access to the climate finance they need. 

    “We urge more countries to join us in making it a reality. The Facility’s focus on community-level projects will ensure practical benefits for Pacific Island communities. It is also a demonstration of what our region can achieve collectively.

    “As we head into COP29 next month, where a new global climate finance goal will be agreed, it’s important to emphasise small island states and their communities need climate finance that they can actually access.” 

    Mr Luxon and Mr Peters made the announcement today while in Samoa for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: IKEA, Argos and John Lewis set to benefit from furniture’s recovery in Q4 2024, says GlobalData

    Source: GlobalData

    IKEA, Argos and John Lewis set to benefit from furniture’s recovery in Q4 2024, says GlobalData

    Posted in Retail

    The UK furniture and floorcoverings market is set to return to growth in Q4 2024 after six quarters of decline as the October Budget should remove a dampener on consumer confidence, and the 10.9% uplift in housing transactions between April and August 2024 and real wage growth filter through. This presents an opportunity for retailers with shorter lead times, such as IKEA, Argos, and John Lewis, and those who have invested in domestic manufacturing, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

    Matt Walton, Senior Retail Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Furniture and floorcoverings has had a challenging 2024 as shoppers have prioritized essentials and consumer confidence has been brittle. Future consumer sentiment has taken a sharp downturn recently, after a recovery in H1 2024, mainly due to concerns about how the Budget will affect shoppers’ finances. However, should its impact be marginal, the recovery in consumer confidence will boost spend on big-ticket categories.”

    An increase in housing transactions since April 2024 and a full year of real wage growth will also help release pent-up demand. There are signs of this release starting, with DFS reporting year-on-year order growth since July and figures from GlobalData’s Consumer Sentiment Tracker showing that a greater proportion of shoppers will spend more on furniture and floorcoverings over the next six months on a year-on-year basis, with a particular uplift since July 2024. However, weak consumer confidence is currently inhibiting spend.

    Walton continues: “Once the Budget has been announced and consumers can gauge their financial position, the current pent-up demand will start to be released. IKEA, Argos and John Lewis are among the retailers who will benefit from this. The Budget will occur after the deadline for Christmas delivery has passed for many furniture specialists, so retailers with shorter lead times will benefit initially from the recovery. Retailers who have invested in domestic manufacturing, such as DFS, Bensons for Beds and Dreams, will also benefit as they can circumnavigate the current Red Sea disruption.

    Walton concludes: “Retailers with shorter lead times, like John Lewis, will be among the main beneficiaries from the improving conditions in Q4, and it will also benefit from Marks & Spencer exiting furniture, the return of Never Knowingly Undersold and the launch of new upholstery ranges.”

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Chancellor to unlock housing in first Budget

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments 3

    The Budget will deliver more affordable housing, ensure social housing is available for those who need it and turbocharge the delivery of 1.5 million homes.

    A housing package announced today will deliver up to 5,000 new affordable social homes with £500 million in new funding for the Affordable Homes Programme. This brings total investment in housing supply to over £5 billion and supports the delivery of 33,000 new homes through £128 million for housing projects across the country.   

    Meanwhile, the stock of social housing will be increased through a new 5-year social housing rent settlement that will give the sector more long-term certainty on funding and allow them to invest in tens of thousands of new homes. The existing stock will also be protected by reducing Right to Buy discounts so that thousands more council homes remain in the sector.

    Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves said:

    We need to fix the housing crisis in this country. It’s created a generation locked out of the property market, torn apart communities and put the brakes on economic growth.

    We are rebuilding Britain by ramping up housebuilding and delivering the 1.5 million new homes we so badly need.

    Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner said:

    We have inherited a housing system which is broken, with not enough homes being built and even fewer that families can afford.

    This is a further significant step in our plan to get Britain building again, backing the sector, so they can help us deliver a social and affordable housing boom, supporting millions of people up and down the country into a safe, affordable and decent home they can be proud of.

    The £500 million to deliver thousands of new social and affordable homes is a top-up to the existing Affordable Homes Programme and comes ahead of the Government’s Housing Strategy due in the Spring.

    The Government will set out details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme at the Spending Review. This will lay the foundations for the manifesto commitment to deliver the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation, and to support councils and housing associations to build their capacity and make a greater contribution to affordable housing supply.

    It will deliver a mix of homes for sub-market rent and home-ownership, with a particular focus on delivering homes for Social Rent.

    The Government will also consult on a new 5-year social housing rent settlement, which caps the rents social housing providers can charge their tenants, to provide the sector with the certainty it needs to invest in new social housing. The intention would be for this to increase with Consumer Price Index inflation figures and an additional 1%. The consultation will also seek views on other potential options to give greater certainty, such as providing a 10-year settlement.  

    These measures to increase affordable housing come alongside changes to the Right to Buy scheme, which will protect existing social housing stock to meet housing need and deliver a fairer and more sustainable scheme.

    England’s existing social housing supply is depleted every year by the scheme while also disincentivising councils to build new social housing.

    Discounts will be reduced alongside greater protections for newly-built social housing and councils will be able to keep 100% of the receipts generated by a Right to Buy sale. This will enable councils to scale-up delivery of much needed social housing whilst still enabling longstanding tenants to buy their own homes.

    The £128 million will support the delivery of new housing projects – including up to 28,000 new builds currently blocked by river pollution – cleaning up our rivers in the process – 3,000 energy efficient homes across the country and 2,000 new homes in North Liverpool.

    Meanwhile the £56 million investment at Liverpool Central Docks will also deliver office, retail, leisure and hotel facilities alongside the new homes. As well as demonstrating our brownfield-first approach, it will transform Liverpool’s former docklands into a thriving waterfront neighbourhood. 

    Kate Henderson, Chief Executive of the National Housing Federation, says:

    We strongly welcome the £500m top-up to the affordable homes programme. This vital injection of funding, which we’ve been urgently calling for, will support housing associations to continue to deliver much needed affordable homes in the immediate term and prevent a collapse in delivery.

    We share the government’s ambition to build 1.5million homes over this parliament and stand ready to deliver the social homes needed, which is why we welcome a consultation on a new rent settlement.  This will provide both transparency for residents and long term certainty and financial stability for social housing providers. We also support the government’s decision to review right to buy discounts.

    To achieve the affordable homes needed across the country, alongside this short term top-up, we look forward to a new long term housing strategy announced at the next spending review, including a significant boost in funding for social housing.

    Charlie Nunn, Chief Executive of Lloyds Banking Group, said:

    As the biggest supporter of social housing in the UK, we welcome the announcement of the funding boost for the Affordable Homes Programme and the plans to consult on a long-term social housing rent settlement.

    A safe and lasting home is the foundation for so many essential needs and strong socio-economic outcomes.  We need greater provision of housing which is both sustainable and genuinely affordable to enable our communities to thrive.

    Councillor Louise Gittins, LGA Chair, said:

    We are pleased the Government has acted on our call to increase Affordable Homes Programme funding. We have made the case for councils to be empowered to build more affordable, good quality homes quickly and at scale and this will boost councils’ ability to build desperately-needed affordable housing for local communities.

    It has become increasingly impossible for councils to replace homes as quickly as they’re being sold through the Right to Buy (RTB) scheme. The LGA has long-called for reform to RTB and these positive measures will support the replacement of sold homes and to stem the continued loss of existing stock.

    A 5-year rent settlement is a step in the right direction in providing certainty for councils on rental income, but to really strengthen and provide stability to Housing Revenue Accounts, a minimum 10-year rent settlement is needed, alongside restoration of lost revenue due to the rent cap and a review of the self-financing settlement of 2012. This would better support long-term business planning to ensure councils can deliver high quality homes and associated support for their tenants.

    Councils stand ready to work with the Government to increase affordable housing and help people on council housing waiting lists and record numbers stuck in temporary accommodation.

    Additional information

    The government is confirming £128 million of funding to deliver the following projects which will deliver much-needed new homes at complex brownfield sites as well provide long-term solutions to improve the supply of homes:

    • Confirmation of a £56 million investment at Liverpool Central Docks which is expected to deliver 2,000 homes in North Liverpool, along with office, retail, leisure, and hotel facilities. This will transform Liverpool’s former dockland into a thriving waterfront neighbourhood.
    • A £25 million investment in a joint venture to establish a new fund with Muse Places Limited and Pension Insurance Corporation to deliver 3,000 energy-efficient new homes across the country, with a target of 100% of these being affordable.
    • The confirmation of £47 million to local authorities to tackle pollution in our rivers, which has halted housebuilding in highly polluted areas. This funding could support the delivery of an estimated 28,000 homes that cannot be built currently due to these restrictions. This funding will not only unlock much needed new housing but also clean up our rivers in the process.

    Updates to this page

    Published 26 October 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-Evening Report: UN experts ‘alarmed’ by Kanaky New Caledonia deaths as Pacific fact-finding mission readies

    By Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews

    France has been criticised for the “alarming” death toll in New Caledonia during recent protests and its “cold shower” approach to decolonisation by experts of the UN Human Rights Committee.

    The UN committee met this week in Geneva for France’s five-yearly human rights review with a focus on its Pacific territory, after peaceful protests over electoral changes turned violent leaving 13 people dead since May.

    French delegates at the hearing defended the country’s actions and rejected the jurisdiction of the UN decolonisation process, saying the country “no longer has any international obligations”.

    A delayed fact-finding mission of Pacific Islands Forum leaders is due to arrive in New Caledonia this weekend to assess the situation on behalf of the region’s peak regional inter-governmental body.

    Almost 7000 security personnel with armoured vehicles have been deployed from France to New Caledonia to quell further unrest.

    “The means used and the intensity of their response and the gravity of the violence reported, as well as the amount of dead and wounded, are particularly alarming,” said committee member Jose Santo Pais, assistant Prosecutor-General of the Portuguese Constitutional Court.

    “There have been numerous allegations regarding an excessive use of force and that would have led to numerous deaths among the Kanak people and law enforcement,” the committee’s vice-chair said on Wednesday.

    Months of protests
    Violence erupted after months of protests over a unilateral attempt by President Emmanuel Macron to “unfreeze” the territory’s electoral roll. Indigenous Kanaks feared the move would dilute their voting power and any chance of success at another independence referendum.

    Eleven Kanaks and two French police have died. The committee heard 169 people were wounded and 2658 arrested in the past five months.

    New Caledonia’s economy is in ruins with hundreds of businesses destroyed, tens-of-thousands left jobless and the local government seeking 4 billion euros (US$4.33 billion) in recovery funds from France.

    France’s reputation has been left battered as an out-of-touch colonial power since the deadly violence erupted.

    Santos Pais questioned France’s commitment to the UN Declaration on Indigenous People and the “sufficient dialogue” required under the Nouméa Accord, a peace agreement signed in 1998 to politically empower Kanak people, that enabled the decolonisation process.

    “It would seem that current violence in the territory is linked to the lack of progress in decolonisation,” said Santos Pais.

    Last week, the new French Prime Minister announced controversial electoral changes that sparked the protests had been abandoned. Local elections, due to be held this year, will now take place at the end of 2025.

    Pacific mission
    Tomorrow, Tonga’s prime minister Hu’akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni will lead a Pacific “observational” mission to New Caledonia of fellow leaders from Cook Islands, Fiji and Solomon Islands Minister for Foreign Affairs, together known as the “Troika-Plus”.

    The PIF leaders’ three-day visit to the capital Nouméa will see them meet with local political parties, youth and community groups, private sector and public service providers.

    “Our thoughts have always been with the people of New Caledonia since the unrest earlier this year, and we continue to offer our support,” Sovaleni said in a statement on Friday.

    The UN committee is a treaty body composed of 18 experts that regularly reviews compliance by 173 member states with their human rights obligations and is separate from the Human Rights Council, a political body composed of states.

    Serbian committee member Tijana Surlan asked France for an update on investigations into injuries and fatalities “related to alleged excessive use of force” in New Caledonia. She asked if police firearms use would be reviewed “to strike a better balance with the principles of absolute necessity and strict proportionality.”

    France’s delegation responded saying it was “committed to renewing dialogue” in New Caledonia and to striking a balance between the right to demonstrate and protecting people and property with the “principle of proportionality.”

    Alleged intimidation by French authorities of at least five journalists covering the unrest in New Caledonia was highlighted by committee member Kobauyah Tchamdja Kapatcha from Togo. France responded saying it guarantees freedom of the press.

    French Ambassador for Human Rights Isabelle Rome addresses the UN Human Rights Committee meeting in Geneva, pictured on 23 October 2024. Image: UNTV

    France rejects ‘obligations’
    The French delegation led by Ambassador for Human Rights Isabelle Rome added it “no longer administers a non-self-governing territory.”

    France “no longer has any international obligations in this regard linked to its membership in the United Nations”, she told the committee on Thursday.

    New Caledonia voted by modest majorities to remain part of France in referendums held in 2018 and 2020 under a UN-mandated decolonisation process. Three referendums were part of the Nouméa Accord to increase Kanaks’ political power following deadly violence in the 1980s.

    A contentious final referendum in 2021 was overwhelmingly in favor of continuing with the status quo. Supporters of independence rejected its legitimacy due to a very low turnout — it was boycotted by Kanak political parties — and because it was held during a serious phase of the covid-19 pandemic, which restricted campaigning.

    “France, through the referendum of September [2021], has therefore completed the process of decolonisation of its former colonies,” ambassador Rome said. She added that New Caledonia was one of the most advanced examples of the French government recognising indigenous rights, with a shared governance framework.

    Another of its Pacific territories — French Polynesia — was re-inscribed on the UN decolonisation list in 2013 but France refuses to recognise its jurisdiction.

    No change in policy
    After a decade, France began attending General Assembly Decolonisation Committee meetings in 2023 to “promote dialogue” and that it was not a “change in [policy] direction”, Rome said.

    “There is no process between the French state and the Polynesian territory that reserves a role for the United Nations,” she added.

    Santos Pais responded saying, “what a cold shower”.

    “The General Assembly will certainly have a completely different view from the one that was presented to us,” he said.

    Earlier this month pro-independence French Polynesian President Moetai Brotherson told the UN Decolonisation Committee’s annual meeting in New York that “after a decade of silence” France must be “guided” to participate in “dialogue.”

    The Human Rights Committee is due to meet again next month to adopt its findings on France.

    Copyright ©2015-2024, BenarNews. Republished with the permission of BenarNews.

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Budget: No retreat from record climate investment

    Source: Scottish Greens

    26 Oct 2024 Finance Climate Action

    The Scottish Government must ensure record climate investment.

    More in Finance

    The SNP must commit to continuing the record level of climate and nature investment previously delivered by the Scottish Greens if they are to get the support of Green MSPs for the forthcoming Budget, says the party’s finance spokesperson, Ross Greer MSP.

    In giving the keynote opening speech of the Scottish Green conference at the Beacon theatre in Greenock, Mr Greer insisted that there must be no going back from the £4.7 billion that his party secured for climate and nature in this year’s budget. He insisted that this sum was just the start of what is needed to meet the scale of the crisis.

    Addressing the party’s conference, Mr Greer said: “When the Greens were in Government we delivered a huge escalation in Scottish Government action for our environment. We secured a record £4.7 billion annually for climate and nature programmes this year alone. 

    “Today we are making clear to the SNP that if they want our support for the next budget there can be no going back on that record level of support. £4.7 billion is the very minimum that our planet needs at this time of crisis.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI China: China to boost military ties with Vietnam: senior official

    Source: China State Council Information Office

    China will further promote the sound and steady development of military-to-military relations with Vietnam, said Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, during his visit to Vietnam from Thursday to Saturday.

    Zhang met respectively with To Lam, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Luong Cuong, Vietnamese president, and Pham Minh Chinh, Vietnamese prime minister.

    Vietnam bears in mind China’s help in its struggle for national independence and socialist construction, said To Lam, adding that his country regards the development of friendly relations with China as a strategic choice and top priority in its foreign policy.

    Vietnam always firmly abides by the one-China policy, he said.

    Noting that bilateral defense relations have taken new steps, Lam expressed hopes to further deepen practical cooperation, enhance strategic mutual trust, work together to cope with threats and challenges, and jointly safeguard regional and world peace and stability.

    Zhang said China cherishes the traditional friendship between the two parties, countries and militaries.

    China is willing to work with Vietnam to fully implement the important consensus reached by the top leaders of the two parties and countries, and keep strengthening exchanges and cooperation in fields like politics, economy, security and culture, Zhang said.

    China will further promote the sound and steady development of military-to-military relations with Vietnam to support the building of a China-Vietnam community with a shared future to a new level, he added.

    During the visit, Zhang also held talks with Vietnamese Defense Minister Phan Van Giang, exchanging views on the international and regional situation and relations between the two militaries. They witnessed the signing of agreements on strengthening defense cooperation. 

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Scottish Greens look ahead to record results at next Scottish elections

    Source: Scottish Greens

    26 Oct 2024 Finance

    The Scottish Greens have a bold and progressive vision for a fairer, greener and better Scotland.

    More in Finance

    Scottish Green co-leader Lorna Slater rallied party activities at their autumn conference in Greenock, saying their party will stand at the next election on a “boldly progressive platform of real change.”

    Slater celebrated her party’s achievements in government, from free bus travel for young people to record investment in climate and nature, and said her party would continue to be “effective and constructive” from opposition. 

    Addressing her party conference, Ms Slater said, “I’m deeply proud of what we achieved during our time in Government.

    “From free bus travel for all our young people, to the biggest expansion of the living wage and the Scottish Child Payment since devolution; Scotland’s first emergency rent freeze and eviction protections during the cost of living crisis, bans on polluting behaviours like incineration, single use plastics and disposable vapes, increased multi-year funding for nature restoration and active travel  the policies you, our Scottish Green members, decided on at past conferences were being put into action. Making people’s lives better, day in, day out.

    “In or out of government we are committed to delivering the change that Scotland needs.”

    Turning her attention to record general election results for her party earlier in the year, Ms Slater said: “We know that voters appreciate Green values and leadership. They told us so, at this year’s General election, which saw record Scottish Green results up and down the country.

    “Whilst Rishi Sunak couldn’t even muster an umbrella, our activists pulled off our biggest on-the-ground campaign since before the pandemic. A substantial effort at short notice. 

    “In the record 44 seats in which we stood, we nearly doubled our vote share, with over 92,000 people casting their vote for us and demonstrating support for the Scottish Greens all over Scotland, including in the islands. 

    “In our biggest cities, we are now the third party, beating the Tories and the Lib Dems in one of their biggest elections. And how did we do it? Through your hard work, determination, and our positive vision for how Green values and policies can change this country. 

    “In the next few months branches will begin selecting their target wards and candidates and start looking ahead to Holyrood 2026.  

    “I am glad that the Scottish Greens are being recognised as influential, and we can do even more with more of us elected into Holyrood.

    “Whilst the SNP lurch to the right and court the votes and donations of Big Oil, and Labour continue to support nuclear weapons and Tory fiscal rules that let the rich get even richer, while public services crumble, the Scottish Greens will stand on a boldly progressive platform of real change. We have a clear position. We have a big opportunity.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Patrick Harvie Autumn Conference 2024 speech

    Source: Scottish Greens

    26 Oct 2024 Finance

    Patrick Harvie called for the Scottish Government to take serious climate action and deliver a fairer, greener and better budget for Scotland.

    Glasgow

    Scottish Greens Co-leader, Net Zero, Constitution and External Affairs spokesperson

    More in Finance

    Greens always aim to offer an inspiring and positive vision at election times, because we believe that politics is capable of changing our society for the better.

    Labour, by contrast, spent the whole election campaign trying to lower everyone’s expectations. Maybe they thought it was better to under-promise, rather than under-deliver. And yet somehow, they have managed to do both.

    I don’t think there can be a single voter left in the UK who can honestly say they’ve been inspired by what has happened since. 

    Of course there is reason to be happy about seeing the end of 14 years of Tory austerity, corruption, and downright lies; to be rid of Boris Johnson and his pals partying in Downing street; or the shameless profiteering on the back of Brexit and the pandemic; or the Liz Truss blink-and-you-miss-it catastrophe – it’s no wonder the British public jumped at the opportunity for a change of government. 

    But Labour’s offer to the electorate, after they’d dumped every remnant of a radical programme and purged their progressive candidates, was so insipid that I warned that the UK was likely to get a change of government without a change of politics. And that’s exactly what we’ve seen from Keir Starmer’s Labour since then. 

    We’ve just passed the 100 day mark of this new Labour government. And what have they achieved in that time? 

    Keir Starmer has some lovely new suits, and if you can believe it thousands of pounds worth of quite boring glasses. Some of the cabinet have had some nice free holidays and Taylor Swift tickets.

    But have they lifted the cruel two-child benefit cap which has forced families, and especially women and children into poverty? Perish the thought.

    Have they cut the artificial link between gas and electricity prices, instantly making renewable home heating cheap and affordable for millions? Of course not, instead they’ve removed winter fuel payments from nearly 10 million pensioners, forcing vulnerable older people to choose between heating their home and feeding themselves. 

    It is a decision that is up there with the worst of the Tories; it’s one that will kill people. And unlike so many of their bad policies, this one wasn’t even in the Labour manifesto.

    Our message to Keir Starmer is simple: reverse this cut. Do it now or your first year’s legacy will be a cold and deadly winter.

    This is a Labour Government working for the few, not the many. A Labour government that is defending a broken status quo and standing up for the interests of big business and their corporate donors rather than working people.

    Here in Scotland, Anas Sarwar told us to ‘read his lips’, promising that there would be ‘no austerity under Labour’. 

    Anas was probably hoping that a long Labour honeymoon would let him coast for much of the way to the 2026 election. Instead people have been given an instant reminder of just how underwhelming a Labour government can be.

    Two weeks ago, Scottish Labour had the chance to take a different path, and condemn their London colleagues’ decision to means-test the winter fuel payment in a vote in the Scottish Parliament. 

    Instead, they doubled down, standing up for Starmer’s decision and supporting one of the cruellest cuts for years.

    But perhaps Labour’s most shameful failure has been on the international stage.

    The last 12 months have seen daily horrors and atrocities inflicted on the people of Gaza. So many children, so many whole families, have had their lives destroyed in some of the gravest war crimes in living memory. It has been the collective punishment of millions of people.

    The killing has spread to Lebanon, and missile attacks between Israel and Iran, with Netanyahu deliberately increasing the risk of a wider regional war.

    For the international community this has been one of the most profound moral tests for our age, and it is one that Labour has failed badly.

    When hospitals and homes have been bombed into rubble, and when genocide is being inflicted, we all have a moral duty to stand against it, and to stand on the side of humanity.

    Yet, Keir Starmer can’t even bring himself to end political and military support for Israel or take action against even its most extreme far right politicians.

    Every government is under a moral obligation to do everything possible to oppose the atrocities. That is why we have persistently called on the Scottish Government to block all public contracts for companies who are complicit in the illegal settlements in the West Bank, and why we have called for an end to all public grants and support for the companies who are profiting from the killing.

    Even ending the arms sales and the bombing isn’t enough; peace requires justice, and that means an end to the decades of occupation, and it means statehood for Palestine.

    Conference, it is long past time to end this complicity. It is long past time for a watertight arms embargo and it is long past time for an end to all trade with the illegal settlements in the occupied territories.

    It is long past time for Scotland and the UK to join the call for boycott, disinvestment and sanctions against Israel. Because profiting from atrocities must have no place in a civilised society.

    Conference, the months and years ahead will be crucial for peace, and they will also be crucial for the fate of our planet.

    With global temperatures rising, Governments must take bold and urgent action both here in Scotland and around the world.

    With just 18 months left of this session of the Scottish Parliament, the SNP now face some key tests on an issue they still claim is a priority. 

    The first of those is underway already, as Holyrood considers the Scottish Government’s new Climate bill. 

    The first two Climate Change Acts were statements of high ambition. This third one will be an admission that, as Greens have long argued, Scotland is years behind where we should be. That’s an admission that needs to be made; but making it demands an urgent acceleration of action here and now, not just promise of more plans to come.

    When we last met in April, I said that Scotland has been held back by too many politicians ready to celebrate the supposed ‘world-leading’ targets, while blocking the action needed to actually meet them. 

    We have known for decades how to do it – it’s getting people out of cars and onto clean public transport; replacing fossil fuel for home heating with cheap, abundant renewables; changing the way we manage our land and farm our food, so we lock up more carbon than we produce; and ending the extraction of oil and gas in the north sea for good. 

    But what have we seen in the last six months from the now minority Scottish Government? Instead of accepting that missed targets demand accelerated action, they’ve chosen a sharp u-turn on much of the action that the Greens had been advancing. 

    Cutting the funding for climate projects and net-zero investment; returning to exorbitant prices on our railways; rolling back on new clean standards for home heating – these are not the actions of a Government that is serious about climate action.

    And on some key climate policy areas they are simply stalling. A new energy strategy is long overdue; they said it was ready to publish before the UK election, but we’re still waiting.

    Greens had insisted on a climate assessment of their road building plan for the A96, and it’s been sitting on Ministers’ desks too, unpublished. They need to come clean, publish that assessment, and make a decisive shift in their priorities, from unsustainable road building, to the green, low carbon infrastructure we need.

    While this dithering and inaction continues, experts like Jim Skea of the IPCC are now warning not only could 1.5 degrees of warming be moving out of reach, but that we are potentially headed to more than 3°C of global warming in this century if we carry on with the policies we have at the moment.

    Three degrees plus of warming would be catastrophic for life on this planet. We know what we need to do, yet the Scottish Government is refusing to take some of the most basic steps.

    So the Scottish Greens will not waive the Climate Targets bill through Holyrood as a ‘minor technical amendment’ as the Scottish Government claims. 

    When parliament goes back next week, Mark Ruskell and I will be moving amendments to the bill to try and improve it where we can. 

    We’ll try to keep the interim targets alive, as crucial milestones on our path to net zero; we’ll put forward improvements to the timescales in the bill, because as it stands they risk wasting most of the time left till the next Holyrood election without an agreed climate plan. 

    But the thing is, outside of the text of the Bill, what’s really needed now is an immediate programme of accelerated action to deliver emission cuts that are long overdue.

    A climate plan is only worthwhile if it takes the steps that are necessary, like halting new road building projects, investing in public transport and refusing the plan to expand the gas-fuelled power station at Peterhead. 

    These are just some of the actions that we have put forward as part of our Climate Reset package, published in August. Even these plans aren’t the end of the story, not by a long way, but without these kinds of changes right now, the Scottish Greens cannot vote for the new Climate bill. 

    Our demands for climate action must not end with this legislation however – tackling the climate emergency must be a mission across all parts and all levels of Government. 

    Nowhere is this more pressing than the upcoming Budget. 

    We recognise the challenges that come with the limitations of devolution, as well as the impact of 14 years of Tory cuts and now what looks like continued austerity under Labour. We know our full ambition for a fairer, greener economy can best be delivered with the powers of a normal independent country. 

    However, we’ve also been clear in recent months that we still have a duty to use every last lever available to solve the current crisis in Scotland’s public finances.

    On Wednesday, when the UK Government publishes its budget, we’ll have a better idea of the financial situation Scotland faces. Labour could and should choose to end austerity, and restore Scotland’s budget to workable levels. But given their track record, none of us will be holding our breath for that.

    Even the current rumours of an increase in capital spending won’t take us anywhere near the levels of investment that are needed, and UK Ministers have openly lobbied against the public service cuts they are being told to make.

    There are those in Scottish politics who refuse the responsibility to offer solutions. Instead they demand the impossible, pretending that every tax can be cut and every service funded, and they never need to make the sums add up. That’s dishonest politics, and it’s never been the Green approach.

    The Scottish Greens have been honest about needing to raise more money through fair taxes if we want to support public services. We are proud that we have the most progressive tax system anywhere in the UK. That is because of the work of Green activists and members in this hall and across this country, and our work in Parliament.

    That’s why there’s an extra billion and a half pounds going into public services every year. It’s why councils are now able to raise more tax from second homes, and from the tourism industry.

    We’ll continue to ensure the Scottish Government comes good on the commitments we secured to introduce new local taxes such as on cruise ships and carbon emissions from land, and we’ll hold them to account on the long overdue commitment for wider reform of local government finance – one of the biggest missed opportunities of the first 25 years of the Scottish Parliament, and one where the SNP are still dragging their feet. 

    We’ve shown how we could make big savings by stopping tax breaks to wealthy landowners and enterprise grants to arms companies, and by bringing in more money to support our healthcare system through a public health levy on supermarkets. 

    But these steps are only the start. Extra funds raised through tax or coming from the UK Government must go into reversing the broken promises made by the SNP government since they ended the Bute House Agreement. 

    That includes reinstating the plan to roll out free school meals to all children in Scotland’s primary schools before the next election, restoring the Scottish Green’s Nature Restoration Fund, fully funding an ambitious programme to cut energy bills and emissions from our home heating, and reversing the decision to bring back peak rail fares which punish workers and students.

    But crucially, John Swinney must also address the very real issue of the trust that was broken this year. 

    In the last six months we’ve not only seen Bute House Agreement policies facing the axe, but commitments which were agreed before we even entered Government, as well as commitments that were made to local government. 

    Now, for the first time in four years, we’re being asked to back a Scottish Government budget without a role in overseeing how it’s implemented; to vote on the basis of trust. That is a risk we cannot take lightly.

    Later today, our Finance portfolio lead Ross Greer will open a conference debate calling on the Scottish Government to guarantee no future agreements will be subject to in-year cuts.

    But even with that in place, we still face a challenging few months ahead. As Scottish Green MSPs, we have a responsibility to engage with the process in good faith, and with honesty. But as the only party that ever brought down an SNP budget, as John Swinney knows to his cost, we need to be clear that they cannot take our votes for granted. 

    Conference, this budget marks a turning point, not just because of the difficult circumstances and the challenges facing the country, but also because it’s the last full year budget for this parliamentary session.

    In just 18 months, Scotland will go back to the polls. Voters will make a decision that will be crucial to ensuring a sustainable and livable future for our planet, and for the people of Scotland.

    We’ve made important progress for Green politics in recent years – a string of ‘best ever’ election results at every level, from the 2019 European elections onward. Our first opportunity to enter government, and sustained high polling through turbulent times when the political right threw everything they had at us. 

    And despite the end of the Bute House Agreement, we have a clear role and opportunity to ensure delivery of what we got started, and hold the SNP to account for progressive Green policies they choose to drop, demonstrating to voters the reason why Green votes make a difference.

    But if we want the 2026 election to continue that string of election successes, and turn our potential into a reality, we need to keep learning, developing, and becoming the effective and professional political force we are capable of being.

    As a movement, Greens don’t exist for easy times. We’re here to draw attention to the profound challenges our society faces, from environmental destruction to poverty and inequality, from global threats to democracy, to the abuse of power by those who operate today’s failed economic model for their own short term benefit.

    Lots of politicians talk about “tough choices”, but what they really mean is sticking with the consequences of the status quo. They make brutal choices, but easy ones – hurting the most vulnerable is the path of least resistance, far easier then challenging the powerful. 

    Greens exist to take on the really tough choices – the choice to change our society, our economy and our politics, knowing that it’s not an easy path.

    Our party will do that, and will earn the trust of those who know it needs to be done, if we are united, true to our values, politically disciplined, and honest. And if we work hard – knocking on doors, campaigning in our communities and making green change happen at every level. 

    That’s what we are, that’s why we’re here, to be more than just a party, to be a movement. A movement for people, a movement for planet and a movement for peace. And a movement that is needed more than ever.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-Evening Report: LNP wins Queensland election, likely with a clear majority

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne

    With 45% of enrolled voters counted in today’s Queensland state election, The Poll Bludger’s results have the Liberal National Party (LNP) winning 38 of the 93 seats, Labor 26, Katter’s Australian Party (KAP) three and independents one.

    Including undecided seats where one party is ahead, it’s 49 LNP, 39 Labor, three KAP, one Green and one independent. A majority is achieved with 47 seats, so the LNP are on track for a majority.

    The statewide two-party estimate is a 53.1–46.9 win to the LNP, a 6.3% swing to the LNP since the 2020 election. Current primary votes are 40.9% LNP (up 5.7%), 33.4% Labor (down 6.6%), 10.3% Greens (up 0.7%), 7.8% One Nation (up 1.0%) and 2.3% KAP (down 0.3%).

    As pre-poll and postal votes have come in, the swing to the LNP has increased as these votes have had stronger swings to the LNP than election day votes. There are many more pre-poll and postals still to be counted, so it’s more likely that the LNP will exceed its current projections than fall below them.

    I believe the Resolve poll that gave the LNP a 53–47 lead will be the most accurate. While Labor recovered from landslide defeat margins in polls taken about the middle of this year, it wasn’t enough. The uComms poll that gave the LNP just a 51–49 lead two days before the election was poor.

    The Greens lost South Brisbane to Labor, after the LNP recommended preferences to Labor on their how-to-vote material after recommending preferences to the Greens in 2020. Analyst Kevin Bonham said this is the first time the Greens have lost a single-member seat that they won at the previous general election.

    The key reasons for Labor’s defeat were an “it’s time” factor, as Labor has governed since winning the January 2015 election, the federal Labor government tending to hurt state Labor parties, and Queensland easily being the most pro-Coalition state at the 2022 federal election.

    At that election, Queensland was the only state where the Coalition won the two-party vote (by 54.1–45.9). The second best state for the Coalition was New South Wales, where Labor won the two-party vote by 51.4–48.6.

    Labor’s defeat in Queensland will give some assistance to federal Labor. An unpopular and old Queensland Labor government would have hindered federal Labor’s prospects in Queensland at the federal election that is due by May 2025.

    Late polls

    The Newspoll and uComms poll were both released after Wednesday’s preview article on the Queensland election.

    A Newspoll, conducted October 18–24 from a sample of 1,151, had given the LNP a 52.5–57.5 lead, a 2.5-point gain for Labor since a mid-September Newspoll. Primary votes were 42% LNP (steady), 33% Labor (up three), 11% Greens (down one), 8% One Nation (steady) and 6% for all Others (down two).

    Labor premier Steven Miles gained seven points for a -3 net approval, with 48% dissatisfied and 45% satisfied. LNP leader David Crisafulli’s net approval plunged 15 points to -3. Miles led Crisafulli by 45–42 as better premier, a reversal from a 46–39 Crisafulli lead in September.

    A uComms poll that was conducted Thursday from a sample of 3,651 using robopolling, gave the LNP a 51–49 lead. Bonham had primary votes from this poll, which was not commissioned by anyone. The primary votes were 39.3% LNP, 33.6% Labor, 12.9% Greens, 7.8% One Nation, 2.9% KAP and 3.5% others.

    Federal Essential poll: Labor slumps and Dutton’s ratings jump

    A national Essential poll, conducted October 16–20 from a sample of 1,140, gave the Coalition a 48–46 lead including undecided (49–47 to Labor in early October). Primary votes were 35% Coalition (up one), 28% Labor (down four), 12% Greens (steady), 7% One Nation (down one), 2% UAP (up one), 9% for all Others (steady) and 6% undecided (up one).

    Anthony Albanese’s net approval improved one point from September to -4, with 48% disapproving and 44% approving. He has improved six points since August. Peter Dutton’s net approval jumped six points to +6, his best in any poll this term.

    King Charles had a 50–26 approval rating. By 45–39, voters supported Australia becoming a republic (42–35 in January). On Australia’s colonial history, 26% thought it something we should be proud of, 12% something we should be ashamed of and 62% said it had both positive and negative elements.

    On the National Anti-Corruption Commission, 46% thought it is largely operating as intended but could be improved, 14% wanted it abolished and 10% said it’s successful.

    Freshwater poll: Coalition holds narrow lead

    A national Freshwater poll for The Financial Review, conducted October 18–20 from a sample of 1,034, gave the Coalition a 51–49 lead, a one-point gain for Labor since the September Freshwater poll. Primary votes were 41% Coalition (down one), 30% Labor (steady), 13% Greens (steady) and 16% for all Others.

    Albanese’s net approval was up one point to -14, with 49% unfavourable and 35% favourable. Dutton’s net approval improved two points to -2. Albanese was just ahead as preferred PM by 44–43 (45–41 in September).

    Asked about Albanese buying a $4.3 million house, 52% said it had no impact on their view of him, 36% said it had worsened their view and 4% improved their view.

    Cost of living remained the top issue with 72% saying it was important. The Coalition retained a 14-point lead over Labor on this issue and a 16-point lead on managing the economy.

    Morgan poll: Labor jumps ahead

    A national Morgan poll, conducted October 14–20 from a sample of 1,687, gave Labor a 52–48 lead, a two-point gain for Labor since the October 7–13 Morgan poll.

    Primary votes were 36.5% Coalition (down one), 32% Labor (up two), 13.5% Greens (down 0.5), 5.5% One Nation (down 0.5), 9% independents (steady) and 3.5% others (steady).

    The headline figure uses respondent preferences. By 2022 election preference flows, Labor led by 53–47, a two-point gain for Labor.

    Adrian Beaumont does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. LNP wins Queensland election, likely with a clear majority – https://theconversation.com/lnp-wins-queensland-election-likely-with-a-clear-majority-241918

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Dmitry Chernyshenko: All regions of Russia and eight friendly countries participate in the Abilympics championship

    Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

    Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko attended the events of the final of the National Championship of Professional Skills among the Disabled and People with Limited Health Abilities “Abilympics”, which started at Gostiny Dvor in Moscow.

    Dmitry Chernyshenko attended the events of the final of the National Championship of Professional Skills among the Disabled and People with Disabilities “Abilympics”, which started in Gostiny Dvor in Moscow

    October 26, 2024

    Dmitry Chernyshenko attended the events of the final of the National Championship of Professional Skills among the Disabled and People with Disabilities “Abilympics”, which started in Gostiny Dvor in Moscow

    October 26, 2024

    Dmitry Chernyshenko attended the events of the final of the National Championship of Professional Skills among the Disabled and People with Disabilities “Abilympics”, which started in Gostiny Dvor in Moscow

    October 26, 2024

    Dmitry Chernyshenko attended the events of the final of the National Championship of Professional Skills among the Disabled and People with Disabilities “Abilympics”, which started in Gostiny Dvor in Moscow

    October 26, 2024

    Previous news Next news

    Dmitry Chernyshenko attended the events of the final of the National Championship of Professional Skills among the Disabled and People with Disabilities “Abilympics”, which started in Gostiny Dvor in Moscow

    The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized the importance of the championship and noted that in 10 years, Abilympics has come a long way, increasing the number of participants from 250 to 120 thousand.

    “We have more than 1.2 million children with various types of disabilities who need to be given the opportunity to compete and be active citizens of society. And, as President Vladimir Putin instructed, to realize their potential and talents. And we saw a lot of talent at the championship. Today, representatives of all regions of the country are here, including new subjects. What is noteworthy is that eight friendly countries are also participating in these competitions. I believe that the most important result of “Abilympics” is that 93% of participants find work after the championship,” said Dmitry Chernyshenko.

    The Deputy Prime Minister also expressed gratitude to the Moscow government, where the Abilympics finals are traditionally held. He emphasized that he is grateful to businesses that responsibly approach the creation of jobs for people with disabilities.

    The Deputy Prime Minister visited the venues where the championship was held. At the stand of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia, he was presented with the latest technical rehabilitation equipment for people with disabilities. He also got acquainted with the exhibition and sale of goods from entrepreneurs who opened their own businesses.

    In addition, the Deputy Prime Minister spoke with participants and experts in various competencies, including Pottery, Industrial Robotics, Graphic Design, and Character Design/Animation.

    At Gostiny Dvor, the Deputy Prime Minister was accompanied by Deputy Minister of Education Olga Koludarova, Minister of the Moscow Government, Head of the Moscow Department of Labor and Social Protection of the Population Evgeny Struzhak, and Head of the National Center “Abilympics” of the Institute for the Development of Professional Education Dina Makeeva.

    “Over the past 10 years, the movement has become an important part of the system of professional education and employment of people with disabilities. Thanks to Abilympics, thousands of talented schoolchildren, students and working citizens have the opportunity to demonstrate their skills and abilities, as well as find a job they like. And we are confident that the Abilympics movement will continue to develop. This year, regional centers for the development of the movement opened in the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Kherson region. We hope that in the future, Abilympics will open its representative offices in all regions of our country,” noted Dina Makeeva.

    The championship competitions in 2024 will be held in 50 approved core competencies in 11 areas of the economy: education, IT technologies, arts and crafts, creative industries, industry, catering, services, economics and management, construction, and medical professions. The judging will be carried out by 277 experts from 52 subjects of the Russian Federation.

    It is also planned to hold competitions in 12 competencies and 1 presentation competence of the championship with the participation of representatives of friendly states in person: the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Abkhazia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Zimbabwe and the State of Qatar. Representatives of the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Nicaragua and the People’s Republic of China will participate remotely.

    Over 10 years, the number of subjects of the Russian Federation where regional Abilympics championships are held has increased from 29 to 89, and the number of competitive competencies has grown from 29 to 206.

    The project operator is the National Center “Abilympics” of the Institute for the Development of Professional Education, Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation.

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Minister Hussen announces support for financial stability in developing countries at the 2024 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group

    Source: Government of Canada News

    News release

    October 26, 2024 – Washington, D.C. – Global Affairs Canada

    Financial inclusion gives people a fair chance to succeed. However, with the rising cost of living, regional conflicts, and natural disasters caused by climate change, financial pressures have impacted everyday life, especially for the world’s most vulnerable.

    Yesterday, the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of International Development concluded his participation at the 2024 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) in Washington. While there, he announced a $20 million contribution to the Toronto Centre over five years.

    Canada’s investment will expand the reach of the Toronto Centre’s tailored training to financial regulators in developing countries, including for women. Women continue to be less likely than men to have access to financial institutions, or even have their own bank account. Gender inclusive training can help break the cycle of gender-based poverty – changing lives and increasing women’s participation in the economy. The project focuses on Sub-Saharan Africa, the Indo-Pacific region and special assistance to Ukraine.

    Minister Hussen also engaged with global partners, World Bank management and other key stakeholders, committed to working with Canada to improve accessing to finance for those who need it most, especially women, a priority under Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy. The World Bank Group is an important partner in funding development projects that help increase financial stability, making it easier for people to access financial services, and providing support in times of crisis.

    Quotes

    “Canada is proud to continue our partnership with the Toronto Centre. This Canadian powerhouse has a long track record of strengthening financial systems through their training and expertise. What this means is that more women and girls will get access to stable financial resources, unlocking the door to reaching their full potential. Together, Canada and the Toronto Centre will continue to build a more inclusive financial sector around the world.”

    – Ahmed Hussen, Minister of International Development

    “We are deeply grateful to Global Affairs Canada for their continued support since our inception in 1998. This timely funding renewal strengthens our ability to build capacity in emerging markets and developing economies in line with the sustainable development goals to spur financial resilience and inclusion, mobilize domestic resources, and alleviate poverty. Our foundational institution-building work strengthens financial regulatory environments, fostering sustainable growth and building global confidence.” 

    – Babak Abbaszadeh, President and CEO, Toronto Centre

    Quick facts

    • Canada is a founding member of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund and is represented at their Boards by Canada’s Minister of Finance.

    • The WBG is Canada’s largest development partner institution. Since 1945, we have worked together in every major area of development and in boosting shared prosperity through inclusive, sustainable economic growth and development.

    • The Annual Meetings for the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank is an opportunity for the global community to come together and advance a range of issues related to poverty reduction and international economic development, while advancing the Sustainable Development Goals.

    • In June 2024, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canada would purchase $274 million (US$200 million) in hybrid capital from the World Bank’s International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). This innovative financing mechanism provides additional capacity for the Bank to provide loans to developing countries, with a leverage factor of 6.5 times. This means up to $1.8 billion in additional lending is available to help developing countries meet the SDGs – from improving education and health to reducing food insecurity and carbon footprints.

    • Canada is a founding member of the Toronto Centre and together, they have built a partnership that dates back to 1998.

    • The Toronto Centre has hosted regular side events within the IMF and World Bank Annual and Spring meetings.

    • Since inception in 1998, Toronto Centre has enhanced the capacity of more than 28,000 financial supervisors from 190 countries and territories to build more stable, resilient, and inclusive financial systems.

    Associated links

    Contacts

    Olivia Batten
    Press Secretary
    Office of the Minister of International Development
    Olivia.Batten@international.gc.ca

    Media Relations Office
    Global Affairs Canada
    media@international.gc.ca
    Follow us on X (Twitter): @CanadaDev
    Like us on Facebook: Canada’s international development – Global Affairs Canada
    Follow us on Instagram: @canadadev

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Government of Yukon introduces 2023–24 Public Accounts to the Legislative Assembly

    Source: Government of Canada regional news

    Today the 2023–24 Public Accounts was tabled in the Yukon Legislative Assembly. The Public Accounts present the Government of Yukon’s financial statements and reflect the government’s finances for the previous fiscal year. The 2023–24 Public Accounts show the government’s financial position on March 31, 2024.

    • Read more about Government of Yukon introduces 2023–24 Public Accounts to the Legislative Assembly
    • Add new comment

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Canada formally apologizes to five Anishinaabeg First Nations

    Source: Government of Canada News

    News release

    October 26, 2024 — (Manitoulin Island, ON) — Crown–Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada and Aundeck Omni Kaning First Nation, M’Chigeeng First Nation, Sheguiandah First Nation, Sheshegwaning First Nation and Zhiibaahaasing First Nation

    Today, the Honourable Gary Anandasangaree, Minister of Crown–Indigenous Relations, on behalf of the Government of Canada, formally apologized to Aundeck Omni Kaning, M’Chigeeng, Sheguiandah, Sheshegwaning and Zhiibaahaasing First Nations for past wrongs relating to the Crown’s mismanagement of their monies in the late 1800s and the negative impacts experienced by the five communities as a result.

    This long-overdue apology was delivered at a ceremony held today with First Nations leadership, Elders, youth and community members at Aundeck Omni Kaning First Nation. Approximately 100 people were in attendance.

    At the ceremony, the Government of Canada and the First Nations also commemorated a claim settlement that provides a total of $447.9 million in compensation to be shared among the five First Nations. This financial settlement resolves three historical claims which date back to the late 1800s and are the focus of the apology delivered today.

    The apology relates to the Crown’s mismanagement of the First Nations’ monies from past land sales in the late 1800s following an agreement made with the First Nations in 1862. Instead of enabling these Anishinaabeg communities to thrive and economically benefit from the land sales, the Crown used the profits  – the monies intended for the First Nations – to build roads and open up Manitoulin Island for settlement. In doing so, the Crown failed to act honourably and uphold its relationship with the First Nations, going against the spirit and intent of the Treaties, breaking its promises and creating injustices which continue to be felt by the communities today.

    This formal statement of apology and co-developed settlement are key steps toward healing and reconciliation with Aundeck Omni Kaning, M’Chigeeng, Sheguiandah, Sheshegwaning and Zhiibaahaasing First Nations. This is also an opportunity for all people in Canada to learn about our shared history and the harmful legacies of colonialism so we can move toward greater understanding and respect.

    Confronting our history and addressing past wrongs is critical to advancing reconciliation in Canada and rebuilding trust with First Nations communities.

    Quotes

    “Acknowledging and apologizing for past wrongs is the right thing to do. This settlement with Aundeck Omni Kaning, M’Chigeeng, Sheguiandah, Sheshegwaning and Zhiibaahaasing pays a longstanding debt that is rightfully owed to the First Nations. Nothing can undo the past or the pain it has caused, but it is crucial that we listen to Indigenous communities on how to best move forward. It is our hope that today’s apology will be a turning point in our Nation-to-Nation relationships with these five First Nations as we continue to co-develop shared solutions and build a better future based on mutual respect and true partnership.”

    The Honourable Gary Anandasangaree
    Minister of Crown–Indigenous Relations

    “This has been a long time coming. It is good to finally see some compensation coming to the First Nations.”

    Chief Patsy Corbiere,
    Aundeck Omni Kaning

    “This is a long overdue moment. We look forward to a positive result for our First Nation.”

    Chief Morgan Hare,
    M’Chigeeng First Nation

    “Community partnerships have proven that working together on the Manitoulin Project is the best way to strengthen our communities, which creates a positive future for generations to come.”

    Chief Jason Aguonie,
    Sheguiandah First Nation

    “Sheshegwaning is glad that Canada has taken this important step to resolve such long-standing breaches of fiduciary duty.”

    Chief Alana Endanawas,
    Sheshegwaning First Nation

    “Our community suffered the loss of these funds for too many years. We look forward to finally building for our families and in line with our vision.”

    Chief Irene Kells,
    Zhiibaahaasing First Nation

    Quick facts

    • The five First Nations have long sought justice and fair compensation for the three historical claims (which are often called “the Manitoulin Project”).

    • The First Nations and Canada began talks in 2016 to find the common ground for resolving these claims outside of the courts.

    • Negotiators for the parties completed their work on the settlement in December 2023.

    • First Nations members approved the settlement in community votes held in March 2024, with 98 percent of those who voted voting in favour.

    • The settlement was signed by the First Nations and Canada in August 2024.

    • The United Chiefs and Councils of Mnidoo Mnising represented the five Anishinaabeg First Nations in the negotiations: Aundeck Omni Kaning, M’Chigeeng, Sheguiandah, Sheshegwaning and Zhiibaahaasing.

    Associated links

    Contacts

    For more information, media may contact:

    Gregory Frame
    Press Secretary
    Office of the Honourable Gary Anandasangaree
    Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations
    gregory.frame@rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca

    Media Relations
    Crown–Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada
    819-934-2302
    RCAANC.media.CIRNAC@sac-isc.gc.ca

    Chief Patsy Corbiere
    Aundeck Omni Kaning
    (705) 368-2228

    Chief Morgan Hare
    M’Chigeeng First Nation
    (705) 377-5362

    Chief Jason Aguonie
    Sheguiandah First Nation
    (705) 368-2781

    Chief Alana Endanawas
    Sheshegwaning First Nation
    (705) 283-3292

    Chief Irene Sagon Kells
    Zhiibaahaasing First Nation
    (705) 283-3963

    Stay connected

    Join the conversation about Indigenous Peoples in Canada:

    X: @GCIndigenous
    Facebook: @GCIndigenous
    Instagram: @gcindigenous

    You can subscribe to receive our news releases and speeches via RSS feeds. For more information or to subscribe, visit http://www.cirnac.gc.ca/RSS

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI: Embassy Bank voted the 2024 Morning Call Readers’ Choice “Best Bank” and Grows Market Share in Lehigh & Northampton Counties Combined with Year over Year Deposit Growth

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    BETHLEHEM, Pa., Oct. 21, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Embassy Bancorp, Inc. (OTCQX: EMYB) – Embassy Bank for the Lehigh Valley is thrilled and deeply honored to announce that the bank has been named this year’s 2024 Morning Call Readers’ Choice for “BEST BANK” in the Lehigh Valley. This recognition reinforces Embassy’s commitment, first made nearly 23 years ago, to exceed customer expectations while setting the standard in community banking. The Bank offers innovative banking solutions, attentive personal service and expert professional guidance, enabling customers to achieve their full financial potential. 

    Since its inception in November 2001, the Bethlehem-based Bank has consistently achieved annual deposit growth in the two-county region of Pennsylvania.

    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Summary of Deposits (SOD) indicates that Embassy has once again gained deposit market share, growing to 8.86% in Lehigh & Northampton Counties combined as of June 30, 2024. This is up from 8.53% of the two counties as of a year prior on June 30, 2023, and represents the 4th overall deposit market share spot in the SOD.

    The Lehigh Valley boasts a thriving economy and was recently ranked first among mid-sized U.S. markets for development projects and a top 15% manufacturing market in the U.S. based on GDP, according to the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation.

    “Our area provides a tremendous level of opportunity for Embassy’s entrepreneurial-minded bankers,” said David M. Lobach, Chairman, CEO and President, Embassy Bank. “While we compete with our nation’s largest banks, the need for community bankers who understand our market cannot be understated. Our team lives and works in the neighborhoods of those we serve, and that goes a very long way in earning the confidence of our customers and ultimately, our continued organic growth.”

    The FDIC’s SOD provides deposit totals for each of the more than 76,000 domestic offices operated by more than 4,500 FDIC-insured commercial and savings banks, savings associations, and U.S. branches of foreign banks. This report also indicated that Embassy remains the #1 Lehigh Valley-based bank in the combined counties for market share.

    Embassy Bank for the Lehigh Valley operates 10 locations throughout Lehigh and Northampton counties of Pennsylvania, complemented by a full-service suite of 24/7 digital banking products. Embassy Bancorp, Inc. is the parent company of Embassy Bank for the Lehigh Valley. Embassy Bancorp, Inc. common stock is publicly traded, and prices are quoted on the OTCQX under the symbol EMYB.

    To learn more about Embassy Bank’s services, visit http://www.embassybank.com.

    Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements
    This document may contain forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results and trends could differ materially from those set forth in such statements due to various risks, uncertainties and other factors. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results and experience to differ from those projected include, but are not limited to, the following: ineffectiveness of the company’s business strategy due to changes in current or future market conditions; the effects of competition, and of changes in laws and regulations, including industry consolidation and development of competing financial products and services; interest rate movements; changes in credit quality; difficulties in integrating distinct business operations, including information technology difficulties; volatilities in the securities markets; and deteriorating economic conditions, and other risks and uncertainties, including those detailed in Embassy Bancorp, Inc.’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The statements are valid only as of the date hereof and Embassy Bancorp, Inc. disclaims any obligation to update this information.

    Contact: David M. Lobach, Jr. (610)882-8800

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: ARC Capital Venture LLC Highlights Growing Investor Confidence in U.S. Fixed Income Market

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    CHICAGO, Oct. 21, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ARC Capital Venture LLC has highlighted a renewed wave of investor optimism in the U.S. fixed income market, driven by positive economic indicators and a growing belief in the Federal Reserve’s ability to guide the economy toward a “soft landing.” With inflows into fixed-income assets reaching record highs, this revival underscores the strength and stability of bonds as a viable investment strategy.

    The latest data shows that leading financial institutions, including BlackRock, JPMorgan Chase, and Pimco, have experienced unprecedented growth in their bond portfolios. In the third quarter alone, U.S. bond funds saw an impressive $123 billion in inflows, with $93 billion directed towards exchange-traded funds (ETFs). These figures reflect the renewed confidence of investors who are seeking reliable returns and a hedge against potential stock market volatility.

    ARC Capital has observed similar trends among it’s clients, many of whom are shifting from cash savings to fixed income, recognizing bonds as a key component of their portfolios. This trend is largely fuelled by the Federal Reserve’s recent easing of interest rates and the broader realization that high-quality bonds provide essential diversification in periods of economic stress.

    “The current bond market is demonstrating remarkable resilience and appeal,” said Nicos Kezarides, Chief Executive Officer at ARC Capital Venture LLC. “We’re seeing more investors re-enter the fixed-income space as interest rates decline, with bonds offering competitive yields that are particularly attractive compared to traditional savings products. This environment is creating an ideal opportunity for investors to benefit from the stability and potential returns offered by bonds.”

    The market’s positive momentum is further supported by the fact that, despite global uncertainties, major financial institutions have continued to report strong inflows. Pimco, for instance, recently reached $2 trillion in assets under management for the first time since 2022, marking a significant milestone for the bond giant.

    As the Federal Reserve continues to adjust its policies, ARC Capital anticipates that the fixed-income market will see sustained growth, particularly for longer-duration bonds that offer attractive yields in a normalized rate environment. The broad appeal of both active and passive bond strategies underscores the democratization of fixed-income investing, making it accessible to a wider range of investors.

    “Bonds are increasingly being seen as a crucial tool for portfolio diversification, and we expect this trend to accelerate as the economy stabilizes,” added Nicos Kezarides. “At ARC Capital, we are committed to helping our clients navigate this evolving landscape, providing them with the insights and investment opportunities needed to succeed in the fixed income space.”

    For more information on ARC Capital services and market insights, please visit http://www.arc-capital.com or contact our team at info@arc-capital.com.

    This press release does not provide general or personal financial product advice, nor does it constitute a recommendation to engage in transactions or invest in fixed income securities. It should not be considered as a solicitation. Before making any investment decisions related to fixed-income securities, investors are advised to consult with their financial adviser and seek independent tax advice, considering their individual needs and financial circumstances.

    Media Relations
    ARC Capital Venture LLC
    Max Harrington, Head of Marketing
    max.harrington@arc-capital.com
    +1 (312) 820-1040
    10 South Riverside Plaza
    Suite 875
    Chicago, IL 60606

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Bitget brings GRASS (GRASS) to Pre-Market For Advance Trading Orders

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    VICTORIA, Seychelles, Oct. 21, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bitget, the leading cryptocurrency exchange and Web3 company, has announced the listing of GRASS (GRASS) for pre-market trading, allowing users to place advance trading orders before the token becomes available for spot trading. The pre-market phase is open, traders can engage in GRASS/USDT trading through Bitget’s platform, enabling from an opportunity to participate in early trades ahead of the wider market release.

    GRASS is a decentralized data layer built for artificial intelligence, enabling users to share their internet bandwidth and collect verifiable network data through a distributed system. Node operators leverage unused internet capacity to gather raw data for AI training, turning excess bandwidth into a valuable resource. The total supply of GRASS is set at 1 billion tokens.

    Bitget’s Pre-market platform has emerged as a key tool for traders seeking early access to different tokens, offering a competitive edge by enabling transactions before official market listings. This feature supports peer-to-peer trades, providing participants the ability to negotiate prices and secure liquidity in advance. Buyers can lock in rates, while sellers benefit from the flexibility of completing deliveries without needing to hold coins upfront.

    Bitget continues to expand its presence across both spot and derivatives markets, maintaining its position as one of the top 10 centralized exchanges. Since its launch in April 2024, the pre-market platform has offered users early access to high-profile projects, including EigenLayer (EIGEN), Zerolend (ZERO), and ZkSync (ZKSYNC). With more than 800 coins and 900 trading pairs available, Bitget is committed to enhancing its platform offerings and providing users with early opportunities to engage in the most in variety projects in the crypto space.

    Bitget’s introduction of GRASS through its pre-market mechanism shows the platform’s strategy to provide users early access to emerging blockchain projects. This early engagement can benefit both the token’s market exposure and user participation, making it an integral part of Bitget’s expanding crypto ecosystem.

    For more information on GRASS tokens, please visit here.

    About Bitget

    Established in 2018, Bitget is the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange and Web3 company. Serving over 45 million users in 150+ countries and regions, the Bitget exchange is committed to helping users trade smarter with its pioneering copy trading, AI bot and other trading solutions. Bitget Wallet is a world-class multi-chain crypto wallet that offers an array of comprehensive Web3 solutions and features including wallet functionality, swap, NFT Marketplace, DApp browser, and more. Bitget inspires individuals to embrace crypto through collaborations with credible partners, including being the Official Crypto Partner of the World’s Top Professional Football League, LALIGA, in EASTERN, SEA and LATAM, as well as a global partner of Olympic Athletes Buse Tosun Çavuşoğlu (Wrestling world champion), Samet Gümüş (Boxing gold medalist) and İlkin Aydın (Volleyball national team).

    For more information, users can visit: Website | Twitter | Telegram | LinkedIn | Discord | Bitget Wallet

    Risk Warning: Digital asset prices may fluctuate and experience price volatility. Only invest what you can afford to lose. The value of your investment may be impacted and it is possible that you may not achieve your financial goals or be able to recover your principal investment. You should always seek independent financial advice and consider your own financial experience and financial standing. Past performance is not a reliable measure of future performance. Bitget shall not be liable for any losses you may incur. Nothing here shall be construed as financial advice. 

    Contact

    Public Relations
    Simran
    Bitget
    media@bitget.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Provident Financial Holdings To Host Earnings Release Conference Call

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    RIVERSIDE, Calif., Oct. 21, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Provident Financial Holdings, Inc. (“Company”) (Nasdaq GS: PROV), the holding company for Provident Savings Bank, F.S.B., today announced that it will distribute a news release announcing earnings for the first quarter of fiscal 2025 prior to the market open on Monday, October 28, 2024. Additionally, the Company will host a conference call for institutional investors and bank analysts on Tuesday, October 29, 2024 at 9:00 a.m. (Pacific) to discuss financial results. The conference call can be accessed by dialing 1-800-715-9871 and referencing Conference ID number 3610756. An audio replay of the conference call will be available through Tuesday, November 5, 2024 by dialing 1-800-770-2030 and referencing Conference ID number 3610756.

    Contacts:    Donavon P. Ternes
    President and
    Chief Executive Officer
    (951) 686-6060    		                 TamHao B. Nguyen
    Senior Vice President and
    Chief Financial Officer
    (951) 686-6060
             

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: FinTech360’s Unified Communication Hub Redefines Forex Broker Efficiency

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Hong Kong, Oct. 21, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — With over a decade of expertise in the forex industry, FinTech360.com continues to set new benchmarks in B2B fintech solutions. Known for its innovation, FinTech360 has launched its cutting-edge Communication Hub, a revolutionary platform that transforms communication for forex brokers by providing a streamlined, centralized solution. This cloud-based CRM system improves interaction efficiency across various channels, including email, live chat, SMS, and messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram, making it an essential tool for brokers seeking to enhance their operational performance.

    FinTech360.com is positioning itself as the ultimate work management platform for the forex market, integrating essential tools for collaboration, communication, and productivity—all while ensuring the highest level of security and regulatory compliance.

    A Secure and Trusted Partner for Forex Brokers

    FinTech360’s Communication Hub offers forex brokers seamless control over multiple communication channels, from messaging apps to push notifications, all managed within a centralized dashboard. The platform enables easy tracking of client data, inquiries, and interactions, allowing brokers to provide better customer service in one secure location.

    “The launch of the Communication Hub aligns with the digital transformation in the forex industry. FinTech360 is at the forefront of this shift, helping businesses consolidate their operations for smoother, more secure communications,” said Aaron Bitter, CEO of FinTech360. “As we continue to innovate, we’re proud to serve as a trusted partner to forex brokers worldwide.”

    Security remains at the core of FinTech360’s offering. The Communication Hub safeguards client privacy by implementing an encrypted “click-to-email” feature, ensuring brokers can interact with customers without risking data breaches.

    Key Features of the Communication Hub for Forex Brokers

    • Multichannel Communication: Manage emails, live chats, WhatsApp, Telegram, SMS, and push notifications from a single user interface.
    • Unified Dashboard: All communication is streamlined in one place, helping brokers optimize customer interactions.
    • Advanced Security: Protects customer contact information through encryption and secure communication triggers.
    • Cost-Efficient Operations: By consolidating all communication efforts, the hub improves efficiency and reduces costs.
    • Centralized CRM: Brokers can manage client communication from one central platform, improving back-office operations.

    Expanding FinTech360’s CRM Capabilities

    Beyond communication, FinTech360 offers an omnichannel CRM solution, giving forex brokers comprehensive control over all back-office operations. From KYC and AML compliance to handling payments through its payment gateway, FinTech360 allows brokers to accept payments globally via its network of over 250 providers.

    FinTech360’s Verification Center also plays a crucial role in assisting brokers with regulatory compliance, enabling seamless adherence to KYC, AML, and forex market regulations such as CySEC, ASIC, and the FSCA.

    FinTech360 CRM Features for Forex Brokers:

    • Website CMS and Client Area: Create a custom website reflecting your brand, enhancing the user experience.
    • Verification Center: Keep up with KYC and AML regulations while monitoring and optimizing sales calls.
    • Sales-Focused CRM: Simplify your workflow with automated lead splitting and detailed sales tracking, improving client management.
    • Communication Hub: Use multiple channels to engage with clients and track interactions in real-time.
    • Affiliate Manager: Optimize your affiliate marketing efforts through real-time traffic monitoring and management tools.
    • Full Suite Cashier: Process payments with over 300 integrated PSPs and APMs, supported by advanced risk management features.
    • Web Trading Platform and Apps: Deliver seamless trading experiences with FinTech360’s web and mobile apps, integrated with MT4/MT5 for top-tier security.
    • Business Intelligence (BI) Reports: Track every aspect of your business, from traffic to customer interactions, ensuring data-driven decisions.

    For more information about FinTech360 and its latest cross-device trading solutions, visit FinTech360.

    Disclaimer: The information provided in this press release is not a solicitation for investment, nor is it intended as investment advice, financial advice, or trading advice. It is strongly recommended you practice due diligence, including consultation with a professional financial advisor, before investing in or trading cryptocurrency and securities.

    The MIL Network –