00:00Central Bank Governor Larry Hawaii is suggesting that as many people as possible in Trinidad and Tobago
00:05become earners of Forex, as he gave the example of professors who are doing gigs abroad.
00:12What other suggestions do you have for persons to be able to themselves become earners of foreign exchange?
00:20Even guys like yourself, I mean, podcasts and all kinds of things could be done,
00:26which is a generator of foreign exchange too, right?
00:31You know, agriculture is an area which has tremendous potential.
00:37But with regard to any potential change where one key issue is concerned,
00:43the Central Bank Governor said that is a matter for the government to determine
00:47as he made reference to the nearby Ministry of Finance Tower.
00:51That is not a question for us.
00:53That decision is made across in the other tower.
01:00We provide a lot of guidance on that in terms of information that could be used to determine
01:08what a real effective exchange rate could or should be.
01:13We do different scenarios.
01:15We do computations on the effect of any possible change on things like inflation and that kind of stuff.
01:23Governor Hawaii said it is a policymaker's decision by those elected to office.
01:29The Central Bank Governor also spoke about the decisions that the bank may have to make
01:33at a time when there is way more demand than supply for Forex.
01:39If it is that we find ourselves in a situation where we have to choose between maybe a small business
01:47importing something donuts to sell in Trinidad, we would prefer to say, well, no,
01:53we prefer to use our money for the hospital or for WASA or for TNTech or whoever else.
01:59So we may get to a point where we may have to make that kind of decision.
02:02We're not there just yet, but it is something that we need to bear in mind as we go along.
02:09However, the Central Bank Governor sought to make one thing clear.
02:12The interest rate movements, we probably wouldn't do it with immediate effect.
02:17Let's see what comes out in the budget.
02:20Let's see what the effect is on liquidity in the system, on fiscal flows and so on,
02:27and then we'll make a determination.
02:29So, you know, do I expect that at the end of the month we get up and we see where interest rate is going up.
02:34We're not doing it that way.
02:35Governor Hawaii said it was just an introductory discussion he was having
02:40and he will update the media as policy prescriptions are applied.
02:45Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
02:47Jewel Brown, TV5 News.
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