00:00We have noticed a deliberate attempt in recent times to put pressure on the
00:06government to devalue the currency. Let me save them from wasting their time
00:11today. There will be no devaluation of the currency." The declaration by Prime
00:18Minister Dr. Keith Rowley in the House of Representatives on Monday regarding
00:22what many in the local business community have declared to be a foreign
00:26exchange crisis in Trinidad and Tobago.
00:30The pressure on the government to devalue the currency
00:33is coming from people who have foreign exchange largely
00:37ignoring the fact that any devaluation could
00:40only result in increased costs across the board.
00:47Of course it will make those with foreign exchange wealthier because they
00:50will get more Trinidad and Tobago dollars.
00:52This is special interest pressure and the government will not bow to it.
00:58Prime Minister Rowley was responding to questions from Kuva North MP
01:02Ravi Rathiram on behalf of the opposition. Could the Prime Minister
01:06provide some sort of timelines that the government can give the members
01:11of the business community so that they can expect some kind of
01:14improved access to foreign currency? Prime Minister.
01:20Madam Speaker, I said that the Minister of Finance
01:24has met with, is meeting with the relevant people in the country
01:28whose job it is to manage and to advise on this matter that is
01:31ongoing and the member's business is not a foreign exchange owner and therefore
01:35he's not to come to this house and try to pressure us on that.
01:38The Prime Minister emphasized that there has been no reduction in the
01:41marketplace of the government's support for foreign
01:44exchange of US seven billion dollars per year from
01:482014 to this year 2024. Of this total the government directly
01:54injects 2.5 billion per year. That's the system that we operate
02:00with the remaining 4.5 billion acquired by the banks directly
02:05from the United States dollar owning clients.
02:09However in 2024 there is clearly an increased demand for
02:15foreign exchange due to the growth in the economy and an
02:20increase over the years in the taste for foreign
02:22goods and for the use of online purchasing.
02:26The Finance Minister recently said he would be having consultations
02:30to determine whether the honor system for foreign exchange that has been in
02:34place for the past 25 years should be
02:37replaced with a more regulated one. The Minister of Finance has already met
02:41with the four largest commercial banks to discuss this matter
02:45and will be meeting with business organizations over the next month.
02:50And in response to a question from Oropuch West MP
02:53another declaration from Dr. Rowley.
02:58If we are being invited to give a date and a time when everybody could get all
03:02the foreign exchange that they want to use I'm afraid I can't do that.
03:05It is one of the shortcomings of being a small economy
03:08where you have to own foreign exchange service your debt your debts
03:13buy your basics and of course not run down your reserves
03:16to end up in a worse situation. So it's a management situation Madam Speaker.
03:20The Prime Minister told the lower house that the government is managing
03:23the forex situation in the best interest of Trinidad and Tobago.
03:28Jewel Brown TV6 News.
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