Interview:Mikaeel Mohammed What impact has the currency shortage had? MIKAEEL MOHAMMED: It has incentivised the activity of importers and penalised exporters. In many sectors, it is easy to bring in products that have been manufactured abroad and sell them at a cheaper price than locally produced industrial goods. Despite the restricted availability of foreign exchange, importers can still…
Optimism is returning after years of recession, despite the fourth quarter of 2017 seeing real economic activity contract by 1.2% year-on-year and the IMF putting growth for the whole year at -2.6%. The organisation forecasts expansion of 1% in 2018 and 0.9% in 2019, with the government now having the opportunity to shift their focus from tackling short-term economic problems to implementing long-
Manufacturing plays a key role in the non-energy economy, of which it is the second-largest component. It is also a significant employer, accounting for 8% of the active workforce as of the third quarter of that year, per the most recent central bank figures. While the outlook for manufacturing remains challenging, performance figures indicate some measure of success in broadening the country’s economic…
The oil and gas industry has historically been Trinidad and Tobago’s primary economic engine, but it has faced challenges in the low-price environment of 2014-16. Strategic decisions are now required across the entire value chain, from incentivising upstream production to improving refinery profitability in the mid-stream and boosting capacity utilisation downstream. After facing pressing short-
