Trinidad And Tobago 

Trinidad And Tobago country policy

Policy established 20 December 1999

• No Restrictions
• The country ceiling is 2000 mln euro
• Early warning signal 1000 mln euro
• - of which was used as at 2011-12-31 2 mln euro

Country class: 2

Trinidad And Tobago country facts

Atradius Dutch State Business Economic Research
Country Report last updated :  28 July 2011
Country :  TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO  

Political Situation
Stable

Head of state
President Maxwell Richards.

Form of government
Government of the People’s Partnership Alliance (PPC), headed by p.m. Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

Internal Economic Situation
Weak Recovery From Recession

General situation
Small, open economy narrowly based on exports of energy  (LNG) and energy-related activities (methanol, fertilizer, aluminium). But fallen energy prices caused real GDP-growth to drop from the peak in 2006 (+13.3%) into recession in 2009/’10, recovering only slowly (2% in 2012). After peaking in mid-2010, inflation has edged down to 10.7% in Febr 2011 (still too high). Because GDP-growth is capital intensive, traditional sectors (such as agriculture) are lagging and labour costs/unemployment relatively high. The banking sector is stable, well-capitalised and profitable but NPL’s have risen steadily. Supervision is insufficient as the collapse of CL Financial in 2009 evidenced; the two largest banks account for 60% of the sector’s assets. T&T is 73rd  of 178 on the TI Corruption Index 
 
External Economic Situation
Solid

Main sources of foreign exchange
Oil-/gas-related products: >90%.

Main foreign markets
United States (68%), Latin America (23%), EU (5%).

Main expenses of foreign exchange
Capital goods, construction material, food.
 
Balance of payments 
Underpinned by higher energy prices, the large surpluses on the trade and current account have returned. De facto pegging of the TT$ visavis US$.