The Dominican Republic's real economic growth is projected to decelerate slightly to around 4% this year due to delayed effects of financial tightening and lower global demand, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday, Reuters reported. The Caribbean country's economy is expected to return to its trend of about 5% expansion next year, as global financial conditions and the world economy recover, the IMF said in a statement. Read more.

The Bank of Canada agreed that the need for further rate hikes would be determined by fresh economic data after it lifted rates to a 22-year high earlier this month, minutes from their policy meetings released on Wednesday showed, Reuters reported. Analysts said the tone of the notes made it clear the central bank was likely to raise rates again next month. On June 7 the bank, which had been on hold since January, raised its overnight rate to 4.75%. In its summary of deliberations, or minutes, the governing council said growth and inflation had been stronger than expected.

Canadian retail sales grew much more than expected in April and will likely post another gain in May, data showed on Wednesday, bolstering the chances that the Bank of Canada will raise rates again in next month, Reuters reported. Retail sales climbed 1.1% in April, higher than a median forecast for a 0.2% increase, Statistics Canada said. In a preliminary estimate, Statscan said sales increased by another 0.5% in May.

Bond investors in Credito Real SAB are crying foul after being left in the dark for more than a year in one of the largest corporate blowouts in Mexico’s recent history, Bloomberg News reported. After defaulting on $1.9 billion of dollar bonds in February 2022, the non-bank lender embarked on a liquidation process in a Mexico City court that bondholders say has been tilted against them. Now, lawyers are pushing for a deal that they say would allow creditors to recoup as much as 23 cents on the dollar.

Mexican retail sales rose much more than expected in April, data from national statistics agency INEGI showed on Tuesday, pointing to a strong start to the second quarter despite tight financial conditions, Reuters reported. Sales rose 1.5% in the month from March, beating market expectations of a 0.2% increase in a Reuters poll, helped by a strengthening peso and falling inflation, which has been hovering its lowest in almost two years.

Canada's financial regulator on Tuesday said that it was raising the amount of capital the country's biggest lenders must hold as a stability buffer by 50 basis points to 3.5%, citing stresses on the financial system, Reuters reported. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) in a statement said the change would come into effect on Nov. 1. The statement cited concerns over high household and corporate debt levels, the rising cost of debt, and increased global uncertainty around fiscal and monetary policy.

Canada's national statistics agency on Tuesday revealed new weights for the basket of goods and services in its Consumer Price Index, giving more prominence to changes in the prices of food and gasoline, Reuters reported. The reweighting, which Statistics Canada carries out every year, has historically had only a marginal impact on the headline number. The new basket weights will be applied to May's inflation data, due out on June 27. The rebalancing reflects changes in 2022 compared to 2021.

Nearly two-thirds of Canadians say higher borrowing costs are squeezing their pocketbooks, a result that’s at odds with a recent rebound in household consumption, Bloomberg News reported. Some 64% of Canadians say higher interest rates are having a negative or somewhat negative impact on their personal spending, according to a Nanos Research Group survey conducted for Bloomberg News. Another 28% said there was no impact, while 6% said the impact was positive. The survey may raise questions about why a spending slowdown hasn’t yet shown up in the data.

An Australian company that clinched the first U.S. clearance for its at-home Covid-19 test kit has collapsed into liquidation after a sale to a competitor fell through, Bloomberg News reported. Covid-19 test maker Ellume Ltd.’s sale to Hough Consolidated Pty Ltd. unraveled this week, and the company is now winding down operations, according to a statement. Hough had agreed to buy the company in December for $38 million (A$56 million), but the deal fell apart after Hough made repeated requests to extend deadlines tied to the agreement.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government stopped Canada’s work with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank while it investigates claims the institution faces substantial interference from the Chinese government, Bloomberg News reported. “Canada will immediately halt all government-led activity at the bank,” Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters Wednesday in Ottawa.