00:00The issue of what many in the local business community are calling a foreign exchange or
00:04forex crisis in Trinidad and Tobago has occupied the national attention in recent days.
00:11During the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange Limited's 2024 Capital Markets Conference
00:16at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Port of Spain on Wednesday, the Governor of the Central
00:21Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Alvin Hilaire, did not speak specifically about the recent
00:26concerns about forex, but did speak about the issue in general.
00:31However, before doing so, he placed it and other matters with regard to the Trinidad
00:36and Tobago economy in the context of how the nation's financial and monetary systems
00:41managed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
00:45In our case, we entered the pandemic in a fairly fortunate position of having buffers.
00:51One we had high international reserves, two a heritage and stabilization fund that was
00:57quite extensive, about six billion, and then we had low debt.
01:03So this was, because of that, we were able to weather the storm fairly without having
01:09to acquire too much debt and to not have to borrow too much from international financial
01:18organizations, etc.
01:19Dr. Hilaire said that on the monetary side, the central bank eased the monetary conditions,
01:25increased liquidity, and allowed the banks and the financial system to get breathing
01:30space while not compromising long-term financial stability.
01:35It was at this point he made his general comment about forex.
01:41Where are we now?
01:42I think we are still coming out of the pandemic, we still have some issues to deal with, we
01:47still have a foreign exchange market that is not in full equilibrium, we have to be
01:51vigilant on our debt, we have to be vigilant on our finances, public finances, we have
01:57to be vigilant on monetary policy, and so we are looking in all those areas, and I think
02:04we are in a decent place, but we can't be complacent.
02:09In a post on the social media platform X earlier this week, Finance Minister Colm Inwood, in
02:14response to articles in the Express newspaper, claimed that the Express is facilitating a
02:18campaign of economic destruction that the IMF should manage and control the distribution
02:24by the central bank of the government's foreign exchange.
02:28The Finance Minister declared, quote, that will not happen under our watch since it will
02:33lead to instant devaluation and massive inflation, end quote.
02:38Jule Brown, TV6 News.
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