Apr 2015 Financial News

Bharath tells TTMA: US$5bn hoarded in bank accounts

Apr 23, 2015

Although more US currency is being injected into the country’s foreign exchange system, a lot of hoarding is taking place because the currency is being purchased then deposited into bank accounts where they are being accumulated. That was the scenario Trade Minister Vasant Bharath described to local manufacturers yesterday as he claimed close of US$5 billion is being hoarded in local bank accounts. 

He said that is a major contributor to the currency supply problem that has been affecting the country since last year. “It is a lot of money and it has been developed over a period of several years. It is one of the issues why there isn’t enough foreign exchange in the economy as there ought to be,” Bharath said when he addressed the T&T Manufacturers’ Association’s (TTMA) 59th AGM Business Breakfast Meeting at the Trinidad Hilton and Conference Centre.

“There is a lot of saving of foreign exchange taking place in the economy in US dollars which are not productively being used at the moment.” The foreign exchange problem has been a contentious issue between the local business sector and Government for months. Businesses blame the distribution system used by the Central Bank and claim the problem has not been eased by month injections of US currency. 

The minister made his foreign exchange revelations at an event at which Independent Senator Dr Rolph Balgobin was introduced as the new president of the TTMA. Dr Balgobin, president and Group CEO of the Electrical Industries Group and executive chairman of Quicksilver Convenience Limited, is the NGC Distinguished Fellow in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of the West Indies (UWI) and a director of the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business. 

In his inaugural address, the new TTMA president said he has seven priorities during his term, including developing a deeper relationship with trade unions and the Industrial Court, as well as working with UWI and Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School to bridge the gap between business and education.

Former president Nicholas Lok Jack said he would like to see top management of manufacturing companies visiting the markets they are interested in. “It is about what we can do to drive T&T forward, what we can do to drive manufacturing forward and make ease of business, value added products in a manner that really contributes to the everyday life of all citizenry,” he said.

Source:
Nadaleen Singh
Trinidad Guardian
Thursday April 23, 2015

http://www.guardian.co.tt/business/2015-04-23/bharath-tells-ttma-us5bn-hoarded-bank-accounts