Coastal Community Economic Empowerment Strategy in Merauke Regency

Community economic empowerment is an important approach to realize a balanced, developing and just economic structure, to realize a successful economic empowerment, community business capacity must become strong and independent, and in sync with community’s best potential and product, in this paper is coastal community. The purpose of this study is how the main strategies and work programs that need to be taken to improve the economy of the community in Merauke Regency by optimally utilizing coastal community resources and knowing the inhibiting and supporting factors of empowerment. Qualitative research method with a SWOT analysis tool with a focus on data sources based on the results of interviews and discussions with the fisheries service and fisheries business actors. The results of the study explain that the increase in fisherman productivity has the highest weight value which is carried out by increasing the role of capital assistance and market intervention, verified by the efforts of coastal communities.

Livelihood Status of Neem Seed Pickers and Constraints in Seed Collection and Procurement in Tamil Nadu

Aims: Neem Seeds have considerable economic significance due to a variety of commercial usages. Realising the significance of neem, the present study aimed to understand the rural households’ participation in neem seed collection and issues in collection and sales. Study Design: Simple random sampling method was followed. Place and Duration of the Study: The present study was conducted in Tamil Nadu state covering seven districts namely Coimbatore, Dindigul, Dharmapuri, Madurai, Sivagangai, Thoothukudi and Vellore. A total of 450 households who involved in neem seed collection was selected and studied. The data collected was pertaining to the year 2019-20. Methodology: Simple mean, percentage analysis, standard deviation and Garrett Ranking techniques were employed. Results: Ninety seven percent of the neem seed collectors are above 30 years. Majority of the neem seed collectors are illiterate mostly belong to the category of more than 50 years and 30 to 50 years. Agriculture based households members generally involved in neem seed collection. Majority of the neem seed collectors (61 per cent) collect neem seeds in local village itself. Around 26 per cent of the respondents visit nearby villages to collect neem seeds. To collect neem seeds, the rural households travel 4.65 km daily, with a minimum of 2.0 km and maximum of 7.0 km in a day. The constraints in seed collection are time consuming, travel long to collect seeds, less remunerative, less productive etc. The major constraints in selling include poor price offered by the traders, lack of awareness on price in other markets, lack of awareness about quality. Conclusion: Programmes like price support, market intervention in the form of price dissemination, market and transport infrastructure will help the rural people to fetch better price for their collected neem seeds.

THE PANDEMIC AND THE ECONOMIC CONUNDRUM: HOW ISLAMIC FINANCE CAN HELP

This paper examines the economic and financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the responses that governments undertook. Though large and unprecedented in size, policy response has mostly been the same. Huge monetary stimulus, rate cuts, direct market intervention like bond purchases and debt moratoriums. Many of these were techniques used in the previous global financial of 2007–2009. Economies were already fragile and in a vulnerable state when the pandemic struck in late 2019. Continued use of the same policies did prevent a potential meltdown but has increased system vulnerability. The global debt burden is now much larger but governments may have fully expended all their monetary ammunition. Fiscal stimulus though much needed and more appropriate is seriously constrained by budget deficits and lack of fiscal space. Adding more debt to fund fiscal expansion is not really an option. Yet, the pandemic has made vulnerable, several parts of the economy that need to be salvaged. The SME sector which forms the spine of most developing economies is verging on collapse due to cash flow disruptions arising from lockdowns. The domestic banking sector which had funded these SMEs is exposed to a potential meltdown unless restructuring is done. The loan moratoriums widely adapted do not solve but merely postpone the problem. Governments, given their precarious fiscal position are in no position to provide the huge financial infusion needed to shore up the SMEs and banks. Islamic finance, which has risk-sharing alternatives can provide a way out of this conundrum. The paper proposes a shariah compliant risk sharing alternative to resolve this problem.

Foreign Exchange Market Intervention and Exchange Rate Stability: An Empirical Anayisis for Nigeria

The essential roles played by exchange rate on general macroeconomic stability has attracted the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to intervene in the foreign exchange market, in order to smoothen exchange rate volatility, among other goals. The study to examine the impact of foreign exchange market intervention on stability of exchange rate in Nigeria with a monthly time series data from 2000M1 to 2020M12. The research employs the use of Autoregressive Distributive Lag approach (ARDL) of analysis. The result indicates that the currency interventions policy of the CBN in Nigeria is effective and exerts significant impact on the exchange rate stability of Naira in both in the short and long-run within the period under investigation. We, therefor, recommend that the monetary authority should continue to employ the usage of stock of foreign reserves in supporting the exchange rate by increasing funding of the operations in foreign exchange market.

Around-the-Clock USD/MXN Volatility: Macroeconomic Announcement Spillovers and FX Market Intervention Mechanisms

This paper advances the literature on the dynamics of the U.S. Dollar-Mexican Peso (USD/MXN) volatility process by leveraging high-frequency data. First, it documents the factors that characterize the intraday volatility process of the USD/MXN exchange rate at high frequencies based on a sample of five-minute returns from 2008 to 2017. Second, it empirically identifies the effects and the relative impact on the USD/MXN volatility process of various macroeconomic announcements, at different frequencies. The results conclude that the most impactful releases are associated with the monetary policy announcements by the Federal Reserve and Banco de México, together with the publication of some U.S. and China macroeconomic data. Furthermore, the results suggest that the different mechanisms implemented by Mexico's FX Commission have accomplished their objective of stabilizing the volatility of the USD/MXN.

Consumer Protection in Jordanian Discount Sales: A Comparative Study with the Legislations of France, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates

This article compares consumer protection in the framework of discounts with the constituent elements of such sales and the relevant methods of protecting consumer rights, according to French, Emirati, Jordanian, and Tunisian legislation and judicial practice. The findings shed light on the operation of consumer rights and market protection, and argues that each legal system has developed divergent means to attain the same goal. While some legal systems have organised sales with detailed rules, others have engaged in very limited market intervention; in the latter case, consumers are prevented from enjoying an important set of rights, as consumer rights and market protection are determined by the merchants.