Tag Archives: caribbean

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Bahamas Has Highest VAT Revenue Ratio in L. America, Caribbean

Paige McCartney Send an email 

The Bahamas had the highest value-added tax (VAT) revenue ratio (VRR) in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region just before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a just-released revenue statistics report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The VAT revenue ratio is the ratio of the actual VAT revenues to the product of final consumption (net of VAT revenues) and the standard VAT rate.

The OECD stated that the ratio provides a sense of VAT revenue loss related to exemptions and reduced rates, fraud, evasion and tax planning as well as weaknesses in tax administrations.

The Bahamas’ VRR was 82, compared to Barbados’ 68, St. Lucia’s 64 and Trinidad and Tobago’s 35.

“The highest VRR is seen in The Bahamas and many other Caribbean countries also have a high VRR. Countries in this sub-region only introduced VAT in the 2000s, much later than countries in the other sub-regions.

Their VRR partly reflects a commitment to international good practice, including a broad-based VAT with a low standard rate, a limited number of exemptions and no reduced rates,” stated the report “Revenues Statistics in Latin America and the Caribbean 2021”, which was released yesterday.

“This is the case for The Bahamas, which introduced VAT in 2015 at a standard rate at 7.5 percent (later increased to 12 percent in July 2018). While The Bahamas had one of the highest VRRs in the LAC region, this may be in part because it receives a high share of revenue from tourism compared to other countries.

Receipts from international tourism as a percentage of total exports were 77 percent in 2018, compared to an average of 8 percent in the LAC region as a whole.”

Overall, The Bahamas’ tax-to-GDP ratio in 2019 was 18.7 percent. Although it is below the LAC average of 22.9 percent, the OECD acknowledged the steady pace of growth year over year.

“The tax-to-GDP ratio in Bahamas increased by 2.1 percentage points from 16.7 percent in 2018 to 18.7 percent in 2019. In comparison, the LAC average increased by 0.3 percentage points between 2018 and 2019 to 22.9 percent,” the report states.

“Over a longer time period, the LAC average has increased by 4.7 percentage points, from 18.2 percent in 2000 to 22.9 percent in 2019, whereas over the same period the tax-to-GDP ratio in The Bahamas has increased by 6.5 percentage points, from 12.2 percent to 18.7 percent. Since 2000, the highest tax-to-GDP ratio in The Bahamas was 18.7 percent in 2019 and the lowest was 10.4 percent in 2002.”

For the first half of this 2020/2021 fiscal year, VAT receipts declined by 44.4 percent due to the slowed economy as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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UK: Most Effective Malaria Vaccine Developed

BBC- Researchers in Britain have developed the world’s most effective malaria vaccine, with it becoming the first to achieve the World Health Organization-specified 75 per cent efficacy goal.

Researchers from the University of Oxford and their partners have reported findings from a Phase IIb trial of a candidate malaria vaccine, dubbed ‘R21/Matrix-M’, which demonstrated 77 per cent efficacy over 12 months of follow-up.

They hope the vaccine can be approved for use within the next two years, building on the speed and lessons learned through the rapid development of the COVID-19 vaccine.

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PAHO Head: Misinformation Fuelling Vaccine Hesitancy

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (CMC) – Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Dr Carissa Etienne said Wednesday that misinformation is one of the most serious threats to public health and it is most damaging when it fuels vaccine hesitancy.

“Every person in a vulnerable group that is hesitant to get the vaccine can become part of the sad statistics, one of the thousands of deaths that occur daily due to COVID-19,” she told a news conference.

“Vaccines are saving lives now and will contribute to control transmission in the near future when we achieve high immunisation coverage,” the Dominican-born PAHO director added.

She said reports of very rare unexpected side effects from some COVID-19 vaccines should not make people hesitate to get immunised.

“The vaccines delivered through COVAX [COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access] have been thoroughly assessed by the WHO [World Health Organization] experts. The benefits of these vaccines in preventing infections, hospitalisations, and deaths outweigh the risks of side effects,” Dr Etienne said.

“Because unreliable information spreads quickly, PAHO is collaborating with tech companies like Twitter, Google, and Facebook to address fake news and ensure the public can easily find accurate information,” she added.

The PAHO director said the tragic milestone of more than three million deaths from COVID, nearly half of them in the Americas, “is a reminder that we must do more to protect each other because this virus continues to be a threat in every corner and community across our region”

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US & CARICOM Agree to Tackle Joint Intrests

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, (CMC) — Foreign ministers of the 15-member Caribbean Community (Caricom) and the US State Department on Wednesday agreed to work together on a number of issues of mutual interest.

A Caricom statement, issued following the the virtual meeting, said the two sides have noted the “inextricable link between the region and the US, and welcomed the roundtable discussion as an initial engagement between the new US Administration and Caricom”.

It said that Belize Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Immigration Minister Eamon Courtenay, who is chair of Caricom Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR), US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Caricom Secretary General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque addressed the meeting.

“This meeting is significant as it marks the resumption of interaction between Caricom as a region and the US at this high level. I recall that meetings at this level were a regular feature of our relationship,” LaRocque said.

He said that Caricom leaders were looking forward to meeting with President Biden in the near future, adding “I hope that today’s session is the start of a renewal of such encounters”.

LaRocque said that Caricom attaches great value “to the strong and enduring bonds of friendship” with Washington, noting that a “spirit of cooperation has characterised our relationship, and it has been underpinned by collaboration on a range of issues, which include trade and investment, security, health, energy, disaster management and climate change.

“However, there are issues which we need to address as partners, such as blacklisting, correspondent banking, and access to concessional financing based on vulnerability, especially in this very challenging period for our region with COVID-19 and its economic impact, La Soufriere volcano which has impacted St Vincent and the Grenadines and the upcoming hurricane season,” the Caricom secretary general said.

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UK Study: Just One Vaccine Shot Cuts Virus Infection Rate for All Ages

BBC- The chances of becoming infected by Covid fell sharply after a first dose of either the AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccines, a UK study has found.

The vaccines worked just as well in the over-75s and those with underlying health conditions, as other people.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) and University of Oxford research also found a strong antibody response in all age groups from either jab.

Everyone showed some response to both vaccines, they said.

The research, contained in two studies which have not yet been peer-reviewed or published, is based on virus tests from 370,000 people in the general UK population – one of the largest to date.

It provides further real-world evidence that the vaccines being used in the UK to protect against Covid-19 are effective at protecting people against coronavirus infections.

In the first study, people who had been vaccinated with a single dose of either the Oxford-AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines were 65% less likely to get a new Covid infection.

Variant protection

Three weeks after their jab, given between December 2020 and early April 2021, infections with symptoms fell by 74%, while infections with no reported symptoms fell by 57%.

Those who had received a second vaccine dose of Pfizer were 90% less likely to be infected. The same calculation could not be made for AZ, because too few people in the study had received a second dose as its rollout started later.

The study showed both vaccines were effective against the Kent variant (B117) which was circulating at the time.

Dr Koen Pouwels, senior researcher in University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Population Health, said the data backed up the decision to extend the gap between doses.

“The protection from new infections gained from a single dose supports the decision to extend the time between first and second doses to 12 weeks to maximise initial vaccination coverage, and reduce hospitalisations and deaths,” he said.

However, he said the figures showed there was still a chance vaccinated people could acquire Covid again and pass it to others, emphasising the need for social distancing and masks.

The second study, in nearly 46,000 adults who had been vaccinated with one dose, found strong antibody responses – a sign that the vaccines are stimulating the body’s defence system to protect against the virus – in all age groups.

These antibody responses were “broadly sustained out to 10 weeks afterwards”, the researchers said.

Although antibody levels rose more slowly and to a lower level with a single dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca, they dropped more quickly after one Pfizer dose, particularly in older age groups.

Antibody boost for over-80s

There was a better response in younger adults compared with older adults over 60 with both jabs, but after two doses of Pfizer antibody levels were high across all ages, the study said.

One finding that surprised researchers was the amount by which the immune response shot up in the over-80s after a second dose – far more than in younger age groups.

The findings highlight the importance of people getting their second vaccine dose for increased protection, the researchers said.

But it is still not clear what the build-up of antibodies after a Covid vaccine actually means.

Prof Sarah Walker, chief investigator on the studies, from the University of Oxford, said: “We don’t yet know exactly how much of an antibody response, and for how long, is needed to protect people against getting Covid-19 in the long term – but over the next year, information from the survey should help us to answer these questions.”

Both studies are based on data from the Covid-19 Infection Survey, a partnership between the University of Oxford, the ONS and the Department for Health and Social Care.

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Haiti: 3 Abducted Catholic Clergy Freed, 7 Still Held

Three members of the Catholic clergy kidnapped in Haiti earlier month this have been released, officials say.

But seven other people – including a French nun and a French priest – abducted in the town of Croix-des-Bouquets remain in captivity.

The kidnappers had demanded $1m (£722,000) as a ransom payment after they seized the group on 11 April.

Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse has vowed to “do everything the law allows” to secure their release.

“Three of the seven clergy kidnapped on April 11 were released,” Father Loudger Mazile, spokesman for the Bishop’s Conference of the island nation, told the AFP on Thursday.

“The French were not released. There were no lay people among those released,” he said.

It is not known whether any ransom has been paid.

The attack happened when the Catholic clergy were on their way to the installation of a new parish priest.

A police source told AFP that a gang calling itself 400 Mazowo was most probably behind the abduction.

Kidnappings have surged in Haiti, with the Catholic Church describing the situation as “a descent into hell”.

While at first well-off business people were the main targets, victims have come from all walks of life. Religious groups have not been spared.

On 1 April, armed men burst into a service at an evangelical church on the outskirts of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and abducted the pastor and three other people. The service was being live-streamed on social media at the time.

The four were released three days later after an undisclosed sum was paid in ransom but the brazenness of kidnapping a pastor in the middle of a service shocked many Haitians.

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World View: Biden’s Climate Summit, India Needs Oxygen, Drop in US Vaccine Demand, More

April 23, 2021

Alternate text

 

Find out why some places in the U.S are turning down COVID-19 vaccines.

We look at how President Joe Biden is bringing out the billionaires at a virtual climate summit of world leaders.

And criticism over Israel’s use of deadly force against Palestinians has echoes of the debate over police killings of Black Americans in the United States.

Also:

  • India’s hospitals desperate for oxygen as virus crisis deepens
  • Denmark tells some Syrian refugees to go back home
  • Digital Underground leader Shock G has died

KARL RITTER

Southern Europe News Director

The Associated Press

Rome

The Rundown

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is bringing out the billionaires, the CEOs and the union executives Friday to help sell President Joe Biden’s climate-friendly transformation of the U.S. economy at a virtual summit of world leaders. The closing day…Read More

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NEW DELHI (AP) — India put oxygen tankers on special express trains as major hospitals in New Delhi on Friday begged on social media for more supplies to save COVID-19 patients who are struggling to breathe. More than a dozen people died when an oxy…Read More

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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Louisiana has stopped asking the federal government for its full allotment of COVID-19 vaccine. About three-quarters of Kansas counties have turned down new shipments of the vaccine at least once over the past month. And in Mis…Read More

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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Moments after former officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder in George Floyd’s death, copies of the original Minneapolis police statement began recirculating on social media. It attributed Floyd’s death to “medical distress…Read More

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JERUSALEM (AP) — Hours after Israeli soldiers shot and killed Osama Mansour at a temporary checkpoint in the occupied West Bank, the military announced that it had thwarted a car-ramming attack — but the facts didn’t seem to add up. By all accounts,…Read More

OTHER TOP STORIES

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Pentagon panel is recommending that decisions to prosecute service members for sexual assault be made by independent authorities, not commanders, in what w…Read More

Gunfire crackled near the straw-woven home of Abraha Kinfe Gebremariam. He hoped it drowned out the cries of his wife, curled up in pain, and the newborn twin daughters wailin…Read More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Four astronauts arrived at their launch pad early Friday morning for a SpaceX flight to the International Space Station, the company’s third bon vo…Read More

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shock G, who blended whimsical wordplay with reverence for ’70s funk as leader of the off-kilter hip-hop group Digital Underground, has died. He was 57. Nz…Read Mor

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India Sets COVID Records, Now On UK Travel Ban List

India has joined the UK’s travel red list – effectively banning travel – as a deadly second wave of infections sweeps the country. On Friday, India recorded 332,730 coronavirus cases, the highest one-day tally anywhere in the world for the second day in a row. Daily deaths from Covid-19 rose by a record 2,263 in the previous 24 hours.

British and Irish nationals can travel to the UK from India, but they must now isolate in a government-approved hotel.

India has seen soaring infection rates, a rapidly rising death toll and the discovery of a new virus variant.

The spike has overwhelmed hospitals, creating a critical shortage of oxygen, intensive care beds and ventilators.

At least two hospitals in the Indian capital Delhi are running out of oxygen, and at least 13 patients have died after a fire broke out in the intensive care unit of a hospital set up to treat Covid patients near Mumbai.

The rising number of cases has resulted in a deepening healthcare crisis that has gripped several states, and India’s top court has asked the central government for a national plan by Friday on bolstering supply, oxygen, medicine, treatment and vaccines.

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Probe Finds PR Hurricane Relief Delayed By Trump Officials

(CNN) An investigation into the Trump administration’s delayed hurricane relief aid for Puerto Rico was stymied by a series of roadblocks in obtaining information and testimony, according to findings by a federal watchdog released Thursday.

In a new report, the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Inspector General explained that its review into the timing of the release of $20 billion in disaster recovery funds in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in 2017 was “hampered” by officials’ refusal to answer questions, as well as delays in conducting interviews and accessing electronic communications.

“While the OIG undertook efforts to mitigate these challenges, the delays and denials of access and refusals to cooperate negatively affected the ability of the OIG to conduct this review,” the report said.

Former HUD Secretary Ben Carson declined to be interviewed unless a department lawyer was present, and investigators ultimately did not obtain his testimony. The report also states investigators were unable to obtain information from several former senior Office of Management and Budget officials related to the office’s decision-making on disaster relief.

CNN reached out to HUD for comment Thursday. Carson declined to comment, according to a spokesperson for Carson’s American Cornerstone Institute.

The Washington Post first reported on the inspector general’s report.

Former President Donald Trump has been criticized over his handling of the 2017 storm, which devastated the island and killed nearly 3,000 people. He denied any fault by his administration and has instead sought praise for his handling of Hurricane Maria, at one point calling it “an incredible, unsung success.” He was also condemned for his visit to Puerto Rico weeks after the storm, where he was pictured tossing paper towels to a crowd of survivors.

Several senior HUD appointees’ interviews were also delayed, as HUD insisted that agency counsel be present during the interviews, according to the report. It noted investigators were concerned about agency counsel being present because that could “create a chilling effect that prevents witnesses from speaking freely with the OIG.”

While some eventually agreed to be interviewed without department lawyers in the room, the report notes those officials then refused to answer questions and claimed information was protected by executive privilege — a presidential power often used to shield sensitive materials from the public.

Investigators conducted 31 interviews with 20 current and former Housing department officials along with two former Puerto Rico housing senior officials, and the witnesses included both senior political appointees and career agency officials, according to the report.

On Monday, HUD announced it was lifting restrictions that had limited Puerto Rico from accessing certain recovery funds and that it would release $8.2 billion in previously approved Community Development Block Grant Mitigation funds to aid in long-term recovery and efforts to combat future disasters.

CNN previously reported that in 2018 White House officials told congressional leaders and appropriators that then-President Donald Trump did not want any additional relief funding sent to the island. And in 2019, HUD said officials would delay the release of more than $8 billion in funding to help to US territory bolster its disaster defenses, with Carson citing “alleged corruption.”

The House Oversight Committee announced in 2019 it would re-launch an investigation into the Trump administration’s response to Hurricanes Irma and Maria in the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

 

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