Haiti

By EVENS SANON
November 6, 2022

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP)

Haiti’s National Police has been fighting to remove a powerful gang that surrounded the key fuel terminal in Port-au-Prince for almost two months — though it’s not immediately clear if the blockade has been fully lifted. 

The announcement by Jimmy Cherizier, a former police officer nicknamed “Barbecue,” followed government claims of at least some success in efforts to reclaim the terminal, as well as a United Nations resolution targeting Cherizier with sanctions. But it remained unclear who actually controls the terminal and the surrounding area, and there had been no evidence that any fuel had been able to leave.

In a speech posted on social media, Cherizier called on truck drivers to come and fill their tanks.

“Drivers can come to the terminal without any fear,” he said.

If fuel can leave, that would ease a crisis that began when Cherizier’s G9 gang federation seized control of the area surrounding a fuel depot in Port-au-Prince on Sept. 12 to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry.  The gang’s blockade cut off access to about 10 millions gallons of diesel and gasoline and more than 800,000 gallons of kerosene, forcing gas stations to close, hospitals to cut back on critical services and banks and grocery stores to operate on a limited schedule.

It also hindered efforts to cope with a cholera outbreak that has killed dozens and sickened thousands. Clinics have warned they were running out of fuel and had difficulty accessing potable water.

Gunfire echoed from the area around the terminal on Thursday as Haiti’s National Police fought to reassert control. Police Chief Frantz Elbé said in a voicemail shared with The Associated Press on Friday: “We won a fight, but it is not over.”

Official police social media accounts posted a video on Sunday with no sound stating officers were still “busy” at the terminal and saying “an important provision is taken to secure the perimeters.”

Cherizier stressed that neither the gang nor anyone working on its behalf has negotiated anything with the prime minister, despite claims by some politicians to have done so.

“This is a fight for a better life,” he said of the gang’s actions. “The situation has worsened. … We are not responsible for what happened to the country.” Cherizier then asked whether Haitians are happy with their living conditions, whether they feel safe, whether their children can go to school without being kidnapped and whether they have food and medical care.

Many in the country of more than 11 million people are living in even deeper poverty at a time of double-digit inflation. Meanwhile, kidnappings and gang violence has increased following the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes.

Spokespeople for Haiti’s National Police and the office of the prime minister could not be immediately reached for comment following Cherizier’s announcement. But some people on social media celebrated Cherizier’s announcement, referring to him as “Father” or “Mr. President.”

In early September, Henry announced his administration could no longer afford to subsidize petroleum, leading to sharp increases in prices that unleashed large protests.

On Oct. 7, almost a month after the blockade began, Henry requested the immediate deployment of foreign troops. The U.N. Security Council has yet to vote on the request, though it voted to impose sanctions on the gang leader himself.

Associated Press writer Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico contributed to this report.

Chevron seeks to ramp up oil production in Venezuela

WASHINGTON could green light super major Chevron’s request to significantly boost oil production in Venezuela as early as this weekend, if the government of Nicolas Maduro resumes talks with the opposition, Reuters reported, citing three well-placed unnamed sources.This potential would mean an easing of sanctions against Venezuela at a time when the US is pushing for higher oil production to ease soaring prices due to headwinds from war.

Chevron to resume oil output as US eases sanctions

Fabiola Zerpa and Lucia Kassai, Bloomberg November 27

The US administration granted Chevron Corp. a 6-month license valid through May 26, 2023, to resume oil production after US sanctions halted drilling activities almost 3 years ago. The reprieve follows resumption of talks by Venezuela’s political factions with a deal to cooperate on a humanitarian spending plan.

The license from the US Office of Foreign Assets Control, OFAC, authorizes Chevron to produce crude oil and petroleum products in its projects, according to a general license from the US Treasury Department. No new drilling is authorized but Chevron will be able to repair and conduct maintenance of oil fields.

In 2020, before the US ordered a complete halt of drilling operations, Chevron’s share of Venezuelan crude oil production was 15,000 barrels a day, less than the production of a single oil field in the Permian. The San Ramon, California-based driller is also allowed to resume crude exports that were halted since 2019, when the US ratcheted up sanctions against the OPEC founder. All exports should go to the US and the company will be allowed to import feedstocks, including diluents used to bolster crude production, from the US.
Chevron said the decision brings added transparency to the Venezuelan oil sector.

“The issuance of General License No. 41 means Chevron can now commercialize the oil that is currently being produced from the company’s Joint Venture assets.”

The sanctions relief comes after Norwegian mediators announced the restart of political talks between President Nicolas Maduro and the opposition. The return of Venezuela to the negotiations was a key condition for easing curbs on the oil-dependent nation’s crude production. The license should do little to alleviate an energy crisis that has sparked inflation and slowed growth across the globe but advances the political agenda with aim to set conditions for Venezuela’s 2024 presidential elections.

It will take “months and years in order to begin to maintain and refurbish fields and equipment and change any investment activity,” Chevron Chief Executive Officer Mike Wirth said in October.

Chevron’s projects could triple oil production to around 200,000 barrels a day in a period of six months to a year from 150,000 currently.

Oil output in Venezuela rebounded this year to 679,000 barrels a day, far less than the 2.9 million barrels produced a decade ago. The slump followed sanctions and mismanagement of oil fields and refineries under the socialist rule of Hugo Chavez and Maduro. Previous talks between Maduro and the opposition collapsed, most recently in October 2021. Interest in resuming negotiations gained momentum as Venezuela faces increased competition of Russian and Iranian barrels in Asia, the top destination for its crude.

Venezuelan SEC PDVSA will not receive profits from the sale of oil as proceeds will go toward repayment of old debt to Chevron. The US company will be prohibited from any transactions with Iran or dealings with Russian-owned or controlled entities in Venezuela.

OFAC’s decision also allows US service providers Halliburton Co., Schlumberger Ltd., Baker Hughes Co. and Weatherford International Plc. to restart work, the Treasury said. The license is valid through May 26, 2023.

 

IMF

Country Report No. 2022/345 : Costa Rica:

Third Review Under the Extended Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility, Request for an Arrangement Under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility, Request for Waiver of Nonobservance of Performance Criterion, and Monetary Policy Consultation.

Summary:

• The new administration, which came into office in May 2022, has had to confront the aftermath of a cyberattack on several government systems as well as the impact of the commodity price shock, slowing trading partner growth, and tightening financial conditions.
• After a strong rebound in 2021, these global headwinds are weighing on activity.
• Meanwhile, as elsewhere, inflationary pressures are elevated.

 

 

Costa Rica to Tackle Climate Change with New Resilience and Sustainability Facility

November 15, 2022

Costa Rica has been a pioneer in greening its economy, and its efforts to fight climate change and restore ecosystems have earned the country international recognition. But climate change continues to pose important risks, most acutely through natural disasters. Costa Rica is now the first country to benefit from the IMF’s new Resilience and Sustainability Facility to support the country’s climate change reforms.

In an interview with Country Focus, Manuela Goretti, IMF Mission Chief , and Nogui Acosta Jaén , Costa Rica’s Minister of Finance, spoke about the new facility.

What are the key challenges Costa Rica is facing from climate change and what is your strategy to tackle them?

Minister Acosta Jaén: Due to its geographical location, Costa Rica is highly exposed to climate change risks and is ranked as 61st out of 182 countries by the ND-GAIN index. Although Costa Rica is in a better position than its neighboring countries, estimates from the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Policy indicate that, in the last three decades, the direct cost of climate change disasters was about half a percent of GDP per year, mainly related to infrastructure.

Costa Rica has worked on many initiatives to mitigate the effects of climate change and adapt to risks, while protecting the most vulnerable. We already have relatively low emissions due to our environmentally friendly economic model, with significant growth in sectors like sustainable tourism and hydropower generation. Almost 100 percent of the country’s electricity is from renewable sources. But we’re still aiming to transition to a net zero emission economy over the next three decades, consistent with our National Decarbonization Plan.

What is the IMF’s new Resilient and Sustainability Facility (RSF)?

Manuela Goretti: The facility, created under the Resilience and Sustainability Trust, is a new financing tool to help low-income and vulnerable middle-income countries build resilience to external shocks and ensure sustainable growth. It complements the IMF’s existing lending facilities by providing longer-term, affordable financing to address challenges such as climate change and pandemic preparedness. Costa Rica is an excellent fit for the RSF given its vulnerability to the effects of climate change and its ambitious climate change reform agenda.

How will the newly approved RSF support Costa Rica’s efforts?

Minister Acosta Jaén: The RSF will have both a direct and indirect positive impact. Working with the IMF will help us better assess climate change risks to public investment projects, which will mitigate costs in the medium term. Also, the additional resources provided through the RSF will improve our financing mix, giving us fiscal space to spend more on education, health, or other areas that help improve the lives of our citizens.

Given the very large financing needs to fight climate change, how can the country catalyze more resources at affordable terms?

Minister Acosta Jaén: The fact that we are the first country to receive this type of financing from the IMF confirms Costa Rica’s strong commitment to inclusive and environmentally sustainable economic growth. This in itself has a significant catalytic effect.

But beyond that, other international organizations and investors who delve into the specific reforms underpinning the RSF financing will appreciate the comprehensiveness and ambition of our climate agenda. As part of our financing strategy, we intend to leverage this Fund-supported climate change reform program to issue environmental, social and governance (ESG) bonds.

We also believe that this can set an example for neighboring countries or those facing similar climate risks, as the RSF is an instrument that responds to a real need and has a significant impact in the medium and long term.

 

 

Nicaragua: Staff Concluding Statement of the 2022 Article IV Mission

November 16, 2022

A Concluding Statement describes the preliminary findings of IMF staff at the end of an official staff visit (or ‘mission’), in most cases to a member country. Missions are undertaken as part of regular (usually annual) consultations under Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, in the context of a request to use IMF resources (borrow from the IMF), as part of discussions of staff monitored programs, or as part of other staff monitoring of economic developments.

The authorities have consented to the publication of this statement. The views expressed in this statement are those of the IMF staff and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF’s Executive Board. Based on the preliminary findings of this mission, staff will prepare a report that, subject to management approval, will be presented to the IMF Executive Board for discussion and decision.

Washington, DC: A staff team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), led by Ms. Alina Carare, held virtual discussions during November 3-4, and visited Managua during November 7-15 for the 2022 Article IV Consultation. The team met with the Finance Minister Iván Acosta, the Central Bank President Ovidio Reyes, other senior officials, and representatives from the private sector, banks, and the international community.

1. After contracting by about 9 percent during 2018-2020, economic activity is recovering well, supported by appropriate macroeconomic and financial policies and substantial pre-crisis buffers from government deposits and international reserves.
2. International official financing, including IMF emergency assistance, also helped the economy to cope with the pandemic and the reconstruction efforts after the two consecutive hurricanes of November 2020.
3. Real GDP grew by 10.3 percent in 2021, and is expected to grow by 4 percent in 2022, sustained by private consumption and exports, given favorable export prices.
4. Strong remittances, large FDI projects and the SDR allocation in August 2021 allowed the continued accumulation of gross international reserves to about US$ 4.2 billion (6.0 months of imports, excluding maquila), by end-September 2022.
5. Notwithstanding the government’s introduction of measures in May 2022 to mitigate the impact of the increase in oil, wheat and fertilizers prices, inflation reached 12 percent (year-on-year) in October 2022, driven mostly by import prices.
6. The authorities are appropriately focusing on managing the exit from accommodative policies adopted during Covid and adjusting the public finances to tighter global financial conditions.
7. The Central Bank of Nicaragua also tightened the monetary stance to maintain exchange rate and financial stability.

Nicaragua’s economic outlook is favorable, although risks to the outlook are on the downside, primarily due to global headwinds . Real GDP growth is expected to moderate to 3 percent in 2023, due to weaker external demand and tighter external financial conditions.

Over the medium term, real GDP growth is projected to converge to its potential of about 3½ percent, given the cautious recovery in investment and credit to the private sector, and lower labor force participation.

Risks to the outlook are on the downside: a more severe global downturn, further external monetary tightening and higher import prices than expected. If these risks materialize, they could result in lower real GDP and remittances growth, higher inflation, worse food affordability, and a wider fiscal deficit.

Fiscal balances, economic activity and social outcomes could be strained by natural disasters, given Nicaragua’s high exposure to climate change and economic dependence on climate sensitive sectors. A deterioration in the business climate and stricter international sanctions would affect trade and financing flows.

Prudent monetary, fiscal, and financial policies need to continue, to build resilience and achieve sustained medium-term growth. A consistent policy mix, with appropriately tight fiscal and monetary policies, is needed to strengthen buffers amid global uncertainty, accumulate reserves and maintain an interest rate differential with the U.S. needed to support the exchange rate crawling peg. The mission supports the authorities’ efforts to sustain medium-term growth through investing in infrastructure, reducing energy costs, and enhancing human capital. Sustained efforts to improve the business climate and structural reforms to increase formal employment will help curb emigration and strengthen the social security accounts.

The fiscal policy stance for 2023 is appropriate and consistent with the authorities’ commitment to safeguard fiscal sustainability . In 2023, the consolidated public sector deficit is expected to improve by 0.9 percentage points of GDP, to 2.4 percent of GDP, primarily through the unwinding of the crisis-related measures and the continued consolidation at the central government level.

Over the medium term, a sustainable approach to fiscal policy is expected to continue, to reduce public debt—which is currently about 57 percent of GDP. The mission supports the authorities’ efforts to address the structural imbalances of the state-owned enterprises and social security accounts, and enhance buffers given the country’s vulnerability to natural disasters and expected tighter global financial conditions. In this respect, the mission recommends better targeting subsidies and reallocating current expenditures, to maintain adequate levels of social spending, reduce poverty and support growth.

While banks are well capitalized and liquid, the resilience of the financial sector could be further strengthened . Bank deposits continue to grow, surpassing their pre-crisis aggregate level (measured in Córdobas), and credit to the private sector is also rebounding but remains below pre-crisis levels.

Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) have halved over the past two years to 1.9 percent in September 2022 and the level of distressed assets (comprised of NPLs, forborne, restructured and refinanced loans as well as repossessed assets) continues to decline but remains significant (12.1 percent in September 2022). The mission recommends increasing the level of provisions for distressed assets and supports the authorities’ efforts to ensure that sound lending practices are preserved.

The authorities should align the crisis preparedness framework with best international practices and expand the prudential supervisory perimeter by overcoming data gaps for credit and savings cooperatives and start their oversight, prioritizing the largest ones. The authorities should also continue monitoring FX risk given the high degree of dollarization.

Building on recent achievements, the authorities should continue strengthening the AML/CFT framework . Nicaragua has implemented a comprehensive set of legal reforms to align its AML/CFT framework with international standards. As a result, the FATF has announced its removal from the “Grey list”. The mission recommends the proper application of the AML/CFT framework and supports the authorities’ efforts to strengthen its effectiveness.

The mission commends the authorities for publishing their first fiscal risks report in May 2022 and urges the authorities to sustain efforts for greater fiscal transparency. The authorities remain committed to publish the external audit reports on the use of all COVID-19 funds; a first report covering the execution until May 2021 is expected to be published by end-November 2022. The Comptroller General Office has taken steps to strengthen the spending oversight of the use of public funds, yet increased efforts are needed to ensure risk-based audits and publication of audit reports.

The state has taken steps to enhance governance and anticorruption frameworks, and further efforts are needed to strengthen these frameworks and their effective application. The Comptroller General Office has introduced a platform to collect asset declarations of public officials. The mission recommends that the Comptroller General Office takes additional measures to ensure public access to these declarations, digital reporting, and to prioritize reviews of politically exposed persons. To support business climate and growth, the state should strengthen the capacity to detect and prosecute possible acts of corruption at all levels of government by fully implementing the Law of Access to Public Information and enacting norms that ensure whistleblower protection. Ensuring fair and impartial access to the court system and to recourse in legal proceedings, would support property rights, contract enforcement, and investment protection.

The mission welcomes the authorities’ intentions to continue building on technical assistance recommendations to improve the quality and consistency of statistics , which is critical to assess risks, better formulate policies, and improve business confidence.

The IMF Executive Board is expected to hold Nicaragua’s Article IV Consultation in early 2023. The mission expresses its sincere thanks to the authorities for their warm hospitality, cooperation, and candor, and other Nicaraguan and international counterparts for the frank dialogue.

Table 1. Nicaragua: Selected Social and Economic Indicators, 2017-23

I. Social and Demographic Indicators
GDP per capita (current US$, 2021)	2,141.0	Income share held by the richest 10 percent (2014)					37.2
GNI per capita (Atlas method, current US$, 2021)	2,010	Unemployment (percent of labor force, 2020)					11.1
GINI Index (2014)	46.2	Poverty rate (national pov. line, in percent, 2016)					24.9
Population (millions, 2020)	6.5	Adult literacy rate (percent, 2015)					82.6
Life expectancy at birth in years (2019)	74.7	Infant mortality rate (per 1,000 live births, 2020)					13.8
II. Economic Indicators
	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
					Prel.	Projections
Output	(Annual percentage change; unless otherwise specified)
GDP growth	4.6	-3.4	-3.8	-1.8	10.3	4.0	3.0
GDP (nominal, US$ million)	13,786	13,025	12,611	12,586	14,001	15,737	17,233
Prices
GDP deflator	4.1	2.7	5.5	5.5	3.3	10.2	8.4
Consumer price inflation (period average)	3.9	4.9	5.4	3.7	4.9	10.2	8.4
Consumer price inflation (end of period)	5.7	3.9	6.1	2.9	7.2	11.2	6.1
Saving and investment (percent of GDP)
Gross domestic investment	29.9	24.1	17.4	19.3	23.6	23.5	24.0
Private sector	22.0	16.5	10.8	11.4	14.0	14.8	15.0
Public sector	8.0	7.6	6.6	7.8	9.7	8.7	9.0
Gross national savings	22.8	22.3	23.4	23.2	21.4	21.8	22.2
Private sector	17.9	19.6	18.8	18.9	13.9	17.0	16.1
Public sector	4.8	2.7	4.5	4.3	7.4	4.8	6.1
Exchange rate
Period average (Cordobas per US$)	30.1	31.6	33.1	34.3	35.2	…	…
End of period (Cordobas per US$)	30.8	32.3	33.8	34.9	35.6	…	…
Fiscal Sector	(Percent of GDP)
Consolidated public sector (overall balance after grants)1/	-2.2	-3.8	-1.2	-2.6	-1.4	-3.3	-2.4
Revenue (Incl. grants)	29.4	28.4	31.6	31.1	33.2	30.3	29.6
Expenditure	31.6	32.3	32.8	33.7	34.6	33.7	32.0
of which: Central Government overall balance 2/	-17.7	-18.9	-0.5	-2.3	-1.2	-1.6	-0.6
Revenue	2.2	1.9	19.6	19.2	21.3	19.5	19.0
Expenditure	19.9	20.9	20.1	21.5	22.6	21.0	19.5
Cash payments for operating activities	15.3	16.6	16.6	17.1	16.7	16.4	14.9
Net cash outflow: investments in NFAs	4.5	3.5	3.5	4.4	5.8	4.6	4.7
of which: Social Security Institute (INSS) overall balance3/	-0.6	0.1	0.2	0.0	0.3	0.0	0.0
Revenue	5.9	7.4	7.9	8.0	7.7	7.2	6.9
Expenditure	6.5	7.3	7.7	8.0	7.4	7.2	6.9
Money and financial	(Annual percentage change)
Broad money	11.7	-18.7	6.2	15.6	13.8	14.3	11.7
Credit to the private sector	16.0	-8.7	-15.6	-3.6	5.3	8.1	11.6
of which bank credit to the private sector	12.6	-10.2	-14.5	-3.4	6.8	…	…
Net domestic assets of the banking system	8.8	-7.7	-15.0	-6.3	2.4	7.8	18.2
Non-performing loans to total loans (ratio)	1.0	2.4	3.1	3.7	2.4	…	…
Regulatory capital to risk-weighted assets (ratio)	13.8	17.0	19.5	23.9	21.1	…	…
External sector	(Percent of GDP, unless otherwise indicated)
Current account	-7.2	-1.8	6.0	3.9	-2.3	-1.7	-1.8
of which: oil imports	6.4	7.6	7.6	5.4	8.0	11.1	9.5
Capital and financial account	11.8	1.8	-1.9	3.0	11.8	9.2	6.2
of which: FDI	7.0	5.9	3.5	3.9	8.6	7.8	5.1
Gross international reserves (US$ million)3/	2,593	2,080	2,199	3,003	3,828	4,256	4,293
In months of imports excl. maquila	4.6	4.3	5.0	7.1	6.5	6.2	6.2
Net international reserves (US$ million)4/	1,802	1,146	1,374	1,887	2,531	2,769	2,863
In months of imports excl. maquila	3.2	2.3	3.1	4.4	4.3	4.0	4.1
Public sector debt 5/	44.4	48.3	50.2	57.8	56.9	58.1	56.1
Domestic public debt	9.5	10.2	8.6	11.2	11.6	13.1	12.3
External Public Debt	34.9	38.0	41.6	46.6	45.3	44.9	43.9
Private sector external debt	43.6	44.2	44.0	44.4	40.1	35.4	32.1

Sources: National authorities; World Bank; and IMF staff calculations.

1/ The consolidated public sector comprises the central government, social security and the municipality of Managua, the state-owned enterprises and the central bank.

2/ Central government deficit and INSS revenue in 2018 include a 1.2 percent of GDP for repayment of INSS historical debt. Similar transfers for 2020-27.

3/ Excludes the Deposit Guarantee Fund for Financial Institutions (FOGADE).

4/ Excludes resources from the Deposit Guarantee Fund for Financial Institutions (FOGADE), and reserve requirements for FX deposits.

5/ Assumes that HIPC-equivalent terms were applied to the outstanding debt to non-Paris Club bilaterals. Does not include SDR allocations. Includes data on the domestic debt of SOEs and municipalities.

IMF Communications Department
MEDIA RELATIONS
PRESS OFFICER: JOSE DE HARO

PHONE: +1 202 623-7100EMAIL: MEDIA@IMF.ORG

 

 

 

IMF Executive Board Concludes 2022 Article IV Consultation with Saint Lucia

Country Report No. 2022/348 :

St. Lucia: 2022 Article IV Consultation-Press Release;

Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for St. Lucia

Summary: The St. Lucian economy is confronted with significant challenges from consecutive external shocks. While still recovering from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to an output collapse in 2020 and 2021 mainly due to a halt in tourism, the war in Ukraine is adding inflation and balance of payments pressures given the dependence on fuel and food imports.

 

UK in recession

Autumn plan anticipates £30 billion in spending cuts and £25 billion in tax hikes.

November 18th 2022

Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt announced a £55 billion fiscal plan with £30 billion in spending cuts and £25 billion in tax hikes. The measures which anticipate a cold winter and long recession in the UK, included an extra two-year freeze on income tax thresholds and a lowering of the top rate of income tax to £125,140

Hunt said the measures would reassure markets that the government and the Bank of England are now working in “lockstep.”

“We need fiscal and monetary policy to work together. That means the government and the Bank working in lockstep. It means, in particular, giving the world confidence in our ability to pay our debts. The measures will increase financial hardship on millions of Britons as they confront the country’s worst cost-of-living crisis in decades and its longest-ever recession.

However, they were necessary to limit 41% year high inflation and recover UK’s reputation; dubbing the plan the “ultimate growth strategy.”

Among other measures announced were a 10% increase in the state pension, benefits and tax credits — in line with September’s inflation figure — and an increase in the National Living Wage to £10.42 an hour for those aged 23 and above.

Hunt also confirmed that the energy industry will face an expanded windfall tax of 35% up from 25%. Meantime, household support for energy bills will be cut back, with typical bills rising from £2,500 a year to £3,000 from April 2023.

Still, many of the fiscal measures are scheduled for the years after an expected 2024 general election.

The statement was accompanied by a long-awaited set of projections from the U.K.’s independent Office for

Budget Responsibility (OBR), which painted a gloomy economic picture for Britain. The forecasts show that the U.K. is now in a recession, which it expects to last “just over a year,” and during which employment will rise from 3.5% to 4.9%.

The government’s new plan ensures that the downturn is shallower and unemployment lower than previously forecast.

Eni’s Coral Sul FLNG off Mozambique sends first cargo

LNG Prime Staff
November 13, 2022

Eni’s 3.4 mtpa Coral Sul FLNG located offshore Mozambique has shipped its first cargo of liquefied natural gas, adding Mozambique to the LNG producing countries.

The Italian energy giant revealed this in a statement on Sunday.

“The project, sanctioned in 2017, comes on stream after just five years, in line with the initial budget and schedule, despite the disruptions caused by the Covid pandemic,” it said.

According to images posted by Eni, the 2019-built 173,400-cbm, British Sponsor, owned by Kmarin and chartered by BP, loaded the first cargo.

The final destination of the carrier was not available on Sunday, its AIS data provided by VesselsValue showed.

BP will buy all of the LNG produced at the FLNG as part of a long-term deal.

In June, the FLNG received its first gas supplies from the Coral South reservoir offshore Mozambique.

Eni’s executives confirmed last month the start of LNG production on the FLNG.

The Italian firm discovered Coral back in May 2012 and it operates the Area 4 along its partners ExxonMobil, CNPC, GALP, Kogas, as well as ENH.

The unit which weighs about 220,000 tons left Samsung Heavy Industries’ Geoje yard in South Korea under tow on November 16 last year and arrived in Mozambique in early January.

Eni says Coral Sul is the first FLNG operating in ultra-deep waters, connected to an underwater system at a depth of around 2,000 meters.

With a length of 432 meters and width of 66 meters, it has the capacity to accommodate up to 350 people in its eight-story living quarter module.

European supplies
Europe has this year significantly increased imports of LNG as European countries look to boost energy security and slash reliance on pipeline gas supplies from Russia.

“The first shipment of LNG from Coral South project, and from Mozambique, is a new and significant step forward in Eni’s strategy to leverage gas as a source that can contribute in a significant way to Europe’s energy security, also through the increasing diversification of supplies, while also supporting a just and sustainable transition,” Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi said in the statement.

“We will continue to work with our partners to ensure timely valorization of Mozambique’s vast gas resources,” he said.

Besides this unit, Eni is also working on a second floating LNG producer to install it offshore Mozambique.

 

Show us the money-

Loss and Damage in the Caribbean: We see it, we feel it, we know it

‘The idea is to garner support for climate-vulnerable countries, which bear the heavier burden’

A historic move was made at the beginning of this year’s United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties (COP27), in Sharm el Sheik, Egypt:  Loss and Damage (L&D) was finally added to the agenda.

What is L&D, exactly? It covers the impacts of climate change that occur despite adaptation and mitigation efforts. “Loss” refers to the negative impacts for which reparation or restoration is impossible; “Damage” to the negative impacts for which reparation or restoration is possible. The causes of these negative effects include both extreme events and slow onset events.

The minute I learned the issue would be on the table at COP27, I had an instant flashback to COP21 in Paris, when hordes of young people from both developing and developed countries came together, en masse, standing in the freezing wind, protesting and demanding that Loss and Damage be prioritised.

For years, countries of the Global North (those rich countries which have benefited from industrial development and are some of the largest emitters of the greenhouse gases contributing to climate change) have been putting up barricades, preventing any discussion of L&D, much to the chagrin of the Global South (those countries already facing the brunt of the climate crisis).

In his address at the opening of Climate Week in New York City, the new Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change, Simon Steil, described COP27 as “the world’s first opportunity in the era of implementation of the Paris Agreement to demonstrate progress.”

For many, this COP could not be considered remotely effective if L&D wasn’t up for discussion. Without talks around L&D, how could implementation to deal with climate impacts be achieved? For Caribbean countries, the COP27 mission is being led by the banner of climate justice, particularly through the Loss and Damage (L&D) agenda.

So why is Loss and Damage so important for Caribbean nations? Think of the residual impacts of climate change which mitigation and adaptation efforts are insufficient to prevent or alleviate — including desertification, or sea level rise. L&D is essentially a direct response to the inadequacy of mere adaptation and mitigation efforts.

It was the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) that first began championing the cause of L&D in 1991, in the run-up to the negotiations around setting up the UNFCCC11. AOSIS led the way in proposing the creation of an international insurance pool to assist in offering compensation to the most vulnerable and low-lying coastal developing countries, such as Mauritius, Seychelles, the Maldives, Samoa, Palau, etc., in terms of Loss and Damage arising from sea level rise. Since then, AOSIS has consistently called for a mechanism that would possess the ability and effectiveness to compensate countries.

The idea is to garner support for climate-vulnerable countries, which bear the heavier burden in terms of the climate crisis. Knowing fully well what this crisis means for their economies, societies, and livelihoods of their citizens, small island nations have been key in championing the L&D concept since its inception — and they have not backed down, creating a clear rally cry for raised ambitions around L&D financing.

In recent years, pressure has been steadily building to institutionalise a UNFCCC mechanism on L&D in response to the shortcomings of mitigation policy and the inadequacy of adaptation support for countries already experiencing the worst effects of climate change. This is why Caribbean leaders have been and continue to strive to make big strides at COP27 with regard to L&D.

For Caribbean and island nations, L&D is a debilitating obstacle that stands in the way of achieving development and fostering economic prosperity. As reported by CCRIF, annual expected losses from the effects of disasters triggered by such hazards are expected to be in the range of one to nine percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2030, depending on the country and the rate of climate change.

The climate crisis has been manifesting through detrimental impacts across the scope of life in the Caribbean, including effects on agriculture and food production, human health, ecosystems, tourism, fresh water availability, energy production, livelihoods, human productivity, critical infrastructure and economic development.

According to a report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, the Caribbean has experienced direct and indirect losses of over three billion United States dollars due to natural disasters associated with weather and climate events between 1970 and 2000 alone.

As I type this report from the computer centre outside COP27’s main plenary hall where all the lofty speeches took place a couple days ago, I am concerned about the massive losses and damages currently being faced by my fellow citizens of Trinidad and Tobago due to massive, widespread flooding overnight.

Loss and Damage. In the Caribbean, we see it, we feel it, we know it.

In light of oil companies scoring tens of billions in profits this year with crude prices skyrocketing in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a group of small island nations joined a call on November 8, pushing for a windfall tax that would force oil companies to compensate developing countries for the damage caused by climate-change-induced natural disasters.

“It is about time that these companies are made to pay a global COP carbon tax on these profits as a source of funding for loss and damage,” stated Gaston Browne, prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda and current AOSIS chair. “While they are profiting, the planet is burning,” he added, speaking on behalf of the 39-nation Alliance of Small Island States, many of whose very existence is threatened by rising sea levels and increasingly intense tropical storms. Meanwhile, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley championed a ten percent tax on oil companies to fund Loss and Damage.

Island nations did not come to Egypt to twiddle their thumbs. They will no longer be obstructed by the United States and the European Union, both having dragged the L&D discussion in the past. “We look forward to the establishment and officialisation of the fund by 2024,” Brown said. At the heart of the matter, Loss and Damage is an issue of justice

 

Pelosi, dominant figure for the ages, leaves lasting imprint

By CALVIN WOODWARD and NANCY BENAC

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — There are two searing scenes of Nancy Pelosi confronting the violent extremism that spilled into the open late in her storied political career. In one, she’s uncharacteristically shaken in a TV interview as she recounts the brutal attack on her husband.

In the other, the House speaker rips open a package of beef jerky with her teeth during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection, while on the phone with Mike Pence, firmly instructing the Republican vice president how to stay safe from the mob that came for them both. “Don’t let anybody know where you are,” she said.

That Pelosi, composed and in command at a time of chaos, tart but parochial-school proper at every turn, is the one whom lawmakers have obeyed, tangled with, respected and feared for two decades.

She is the most powerful woman in American politics and one of the nation’s most consequential legislative leaders — through times of war, financial turmoil, a pandemic and an assault on democracy. Now, at 82, in the face of political loss and personal trauma, she decided her era was ending.

Pelosi stood in the well of a rapt House on Thursday and announced she would not seek a Democratic leadership position in the Congress that convenes in January, when Republicans take control of the chamber. Pelosi, who will remain a member of the House, took her time revealing the news, looking back over an improbable career and recalling her first visit to the Capitol at age 6 with her congressman father.

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“Never would I have thought that I would go from homemaker to House speaker,” she allowed. On her future, she told reporters: “I like to dance, I like to sing. There’s a life out there, right?”

Polarizing and combative, Pelosi nevertheless forged compromises with Republicans on historic legislation.

Across the policy spectrum, whether you liked the results or not, she delivered votes that touched ordinary lives in many ways. Among them: how millions get health care, the state of the roads, the lightened burden of student debt, the minimum wage, progress on climate change that took over a decade to bear fruit.

Even former Republican Speaker Newt Gingrich, a self-described “partisan conservative who thinks that most of her positions are insane,” said Pelosi had a “remarkable” run. This, from a fellow “troublemaker with a gavel,” as she called herself. He flamed out; she didn’t.“Totally dominant,” Gingrich said of her in an interview. “She’s clearly one of the strongest speakers in history. She has shown enormous perseverance and discipline.”

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FEW SURVIVE

Those qualities are essential if you don’t want to be run out of town, as was a succession of modern Republican speakers, back to Gingrich. It’s one thing to herd sheep. It’s another thing altogether to herd Democrats and all their messy factions.

Pelosi dealt with conservative Blue Dog Democrats, the liberal women of the Squad, the Out of Iraq Caucus — not to mention old-guard legislators who treated their committees like fiefdoms.

Many of the above, at one point or another, earned her look of icy disapproval, well practiced and not always reserved just for the other side.

“Politics is tough,” she said in 2015, “but intraparty? Oh, brother.”

Squad member Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, not always Pelosi’s biggest fan, spoke Thursday of how Pelosi had “served as a beacon of hope” to her and her family when they migrated from Somalia.

Omar, at times the subject of “send her back” chants during Donald Trump’s rallies, recalled that Pelosi had invited her to join her on a 2019 trip to Africa “to represent how far we have come as a country.”

Princeton political scientist Frances Lee said there’s no doubt Pelosi was a “truly great legislative leader, among a handful truly in command. She’s really had her party in the House of Representatives in hand. The difficulty of managing them should not be underrated. It didn’t always look pretty but she held the party together.”

Pelosi prevailed — for nearly 20 years as House Democratic leader including nearly eight as speaker in two separate stints — with hard-nosed sentiments like these:“Whoever votes against the speaker will pay a price.” — to Democrats who resisted her push for a select committee on climate change early in her speakership.

“Nobody’s walking out of here saying anything, if they want to keep an intact neck.” — to negotiators trying to work out a 2007 House-Senate compromise to restrain pork, according to the notes of John A. Lawrence, her then-chief of staff and author of a new insider book on her speakership, “Arc of Power.”

Sometimes, she could snap her lawmakers into line without a word.

A flick of her hand was all it took to silence Democrats who cheered when the House first passed articles of impeachment against Trump. It was an occasion for sobriety and Pelosi was a stickler for institutional decorum. But not always.

She ripped up her copy of Trump’s 2020 State of the Union speech, on the dais behind him, on camera. The theatrical protest at one of American democracy’s prime rituals raised questions about whether Pelosi, in that moment, had become what she despised in Trump.Afterward, she said she had extended her “hand of friendship” to him when he arrived but he did not take it. “He looked a little sedated,” she added. As she read quickly through her copy of the speech while Trump delivered it, she stewed over the lines and decided to take action.

“He has shredded the truth in his speech, shredded the Constitution in his conduct — I shredded the address,” she said crisply. “Thank you all very much.”

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THE VILLAINIZATION

In 2007, Republican President George W. Bush opened his speech as the “first president to begin his State of the Union with these words: Madam Speaker.” He grinned, she beamed, an ovation followed.

Although she maintained a genial relationship with the Bush family — especially the elder George Bush — Republican campaigns seized on her as the perfect foil early on and never let go. She was pilloried as “Darth Nancy” in the 2006 campaign and the villainization got much uglier, complete with gun imagery, as the years passed and politics became more toxic.

“She was, she is, the personification of the San Francisco liberal,” Lawrence said in an interview. “It was made to order for them.”

But “with her there was a viciousness. The fact that she fit that bill so perfectly — a smart, attractive, effective woman … they knew they could caricature and stigmatize things about her, her appearance and style, in a way that was a very effective dog whistle of misogyny.”

Republicans often did it simply to raise money, and it worked. Then they used her in ads to attack Democratic congressional candidates. Some of those worked, too,

At least publicly, she would never attribute the attacks to the fact she’s a woman, Lawrence said. “She would say, ‘They did it because I’m effective.’” Then “pretend to flick dust” off her immaculate jacket.

“Darth Nancy” was a quaint, faraway insult by the time the pro-Trump mob came looking for her that Jan. 6. Their sign at the Capitol said “Pelosi is Satan.”

Rifling through her desk in the abandoned speaker’s office, they found a pair of boxing gloves.

Pink ones.

THE DO-LOTS CONGRESS

Over the years, Pelosi honed the art of aiming high, then disappointing one faction of her party or another without losing her core of support. Rare is the major achievement that was as far left as the party’s left wing wanted it to be.

But many are the major achievements. She settled for an “Obamacare” bill that did not give everyone the option of government health insurance, but did, over time, fundamentally expand access to health care.

As financial institutions and large segments of the economy sank into the Great Recession, with the 2008 election looming, she settled for a Bush-era stimulus package that essentially bailed out Wall Street — when liberal Occupy Wall Street activists had very different ideas.

She delivered Democratic votes to help even some Trump initiatives get over the line, like early COVID-19 pandemic relief, before swinging behind President Joe Biden on some of the most far-reaching legislation since Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society push in the 1960s.

And Bono, who worked with Pelosi over the years on combating AIDS, said in a statement to the AP after a performance Thursday night in Scotland: “When the story of the end of AIDS is written, Nancy Pelosi’s name will stand out in boldface.”

“I am honored to have learned so much from her grit and grace, and to call her a friend,” he added.

For all the accolades, Pelosi crushed a multitude of toes along the way.

“Her instincts are to find a path and if you happen to be standing in the hole, she’s going to treat you like a running back,” said political scientist Cal Jillson at Southern Methodist University. “If she can go through you, fine. If not, you’re headed to the medicine tent.”

Some of the toes squashed by Pelosi belong to Jane Harman, a fellow Californian who long ran in the same circles as the speaker. She returned to Congress in 2001 after a two-year gap, armed with a written promise from Democratic leaders that she could reclaim her seniority and become chair of the sought-after Intelligence Committee if the party took control of the chamber.

When Democrats did so in 2007 and Pelosi became speaker, she bumped Harman from the committee, citing term limits that had not always been evenly applied. Harman believes the real reason was that Pelosi was under pressure from liberals not to give the job to someone who had supported the war in Iraq.

“I think, looking back, that she was under pressure from the left not to promote somebody who had voted for the war.”

Still, Harman, who left Congress in 2011 to lead the Wilson Center think tank, allows that Pelosi has “a very good political radar and she has kept the caucus together.”

When Pelosi entered Congress in 1987, men chaired all the House committees and no women had led one since the 1970s, by the reckoning of House historians. In the 1970s, the most popular committee chair appointment for women in the House was to lead the Select Committee on the House Beauty Shop before that panel vanished at the end of that decade.

Under Pelosi, women took over more panels and gained weightier assignments while the speaker worked to advance authority for minorities in her ranks as well as their numbers.

“She led in a way that did set the stage for other women and open the doors for their potential,” said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Woman and Politics, at Rutgers University. “Things have moved. And she is a big part of that.”

THE PELOSI CEILING

Because of the speaker’s longevity, however, many other up-and-comers in the party besides Harman have discovered they could only rise so far before hitting the Pelosi ceiling. The top job simply hadn’t been available.

Pelosi faced none of the questions about sharpness or stamina that dog Biden, 80 on Sunday. She still races around Congress, in high heels, at a pace that people half her age can find hard to match.

But even before the elections, concern had grown in the ranks about the crowd of older Democratic leaders from the same era still in charge. “No brewing rebellion,” said Lee at Princeton, but “a sense that maybe it is time.”

Leon Panetta, former CIA and Defense chief and chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, had nothing but praise for Pelosi’s leadership and skill but said she “probably could have spent more time building a stronger bench in terms of leadership in the House and trying to make sure that others could follow in her path. That becomes a question mark now as to just exactly who’s going to be able to replace her.”

Panetta met her in the 1980s when he was a congressman from California and she was getting started as a Democratic fund-raiser extraordinaire after her family had moved to that state. She had already learned lessons about transactional politics as the politically engaged daughter of Thomas J. D’Alesandro Jr., a three-term Baltimore mayor and five-term member of Congress from Maryland.

Her prowess in persuading people to open their wallets on behalf of Democratic candidates was one of the keys to her success. Harman calls those dollars crucial to the “big tent” that Pelosi erected for her caucus and to her ability to hold sway over it — “a $1.25 billion tent.”

Michigan Rep. Fred Upton, a Republican who was in the same freshman class with Pelosi and is retiring from Congress, said of her: “This is why the Democrats had more money than God. She was magic, and I don’t think she lost a vote.”

Gingrich tacks on other elements of her power: “Her fundraising, her ability to inspire intense loyalty, her willingness to punish people who don’t do what she wants.”

“As a professional, you have to have great respect for her ability to acquire and wield power and her ability to build what was an effective machine,” he said.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement that despite their many disagreements, “I have seen firsthand the depth and intensity of her commitment to public service. There is no question that the impact of Speaker Pelosi’s consequential and path-breaking career will long endure.”

In Pelosi’s reign, nothing was left to chance — even her clothing was curated to send a message: She paired a black dress worn during the Trump impeachments with a gold pin depicting the mace of the House, a symbol of her power. When she swooshed out the doors of the White House after one particularly pointed encounter with Trump, her sunglasses and burnt-orange winter coat were quickly the stuff of social media memes.

On Thursday, for the big reveal of her plans, Pelosi wore suffragette white and her mace brooch.

Pelosi told reporters the attack on her husband, Paul, also 82, last month made her inclined to stay in leadership, so as not to give extremists the satisfaction of seeing her leave. She might have hung in, she indicated, if Democrats had won a majority.

The attacker, who police say had come looking for the speaker, fractured her husband’s skull with a hammer. Pelosi said she is working through “survivor’s guilt.”

Could there be a third-generation Pelosi headed to Congress after the speaker and her father? It’s long been thought that Nancy’s daughter, Christine, would be at the front of the line for the congressional seat whenever Pelosi decided to retire.

In her time, Pelosi went beyond domestic politics to stake a claim to congressional influence in foreign policy on behalf of the House as an institution, pointing her gavel outward in a way speakers had rarely done.

Well beyond her annual Mother’s Day visits to women in combat overseas, Pelosi traveled to foreign leaders with a mission to project U.S. stability, particularly during the unpredictable Trump years but also before and after.

She traveled secretly to Kiev early in the Russia-Ukraine war and caused some grief in the Biden administration with her diplomatically dicey visit to Taiwan this year.

Pelosi had a history of standing up to China. In her first foreign trip after being elected to Congress in 1987, she joined other U.S. lawmakers in 1991 in unfurling a banner at Tiananmen Square after Chinese authorities crushed pro-democracy demonstrations there in 1989. Her recent Taiwan visit was another slap at Beijing.

For all her clout in government, Pelosi was an unpopular figure in the country overall. In a Pew Research Center poll conducted in late June and early July, only about a third of respondents had a favorable opinion of Pelosi, while 6 in 10 were unfavorable toward her.

Most Democrats and Democratic leaners — about 6 in 10 — were thumbs up about her, though she lagged Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, both rated favorably by three-quarters of Democrats. About 9 in 10 Republicans viewed her unfavorably.

Through it all, she went at practically everything as if it had a best-before date. After all, she would say, “Power is perishable.” Washington is “the perishable city.”

AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.