Sep 2015 Financial News

It came as no surprise

Sep 30, 2015

SENIOR Vice President and Managing Director of Scotiabank Trinidad and Tobago Limited Anya Schnoor, said yesterday it should not come as any surprise to anyone that this country’s economy had shown negative growth for the first half of this year. “I think with the declining oil and gas prices worldwide and Trinidad’s economy being so dependent on those two major sources of revenue, it would be logical that revenue would have declined over that period of time."

She was commenting on the latest Monetary Policy Announcement by the Trinidad and Tobago Central Bank in which it said the local economy had contracted by nearly two percent during the first half of the year and the early indicators were for continued sluggish economic performance in the third quarter of the year. In the announcement, published on September 25, 2015, the bank said the country’s declining economic performance was due to “continued shortfalls” in natural gas production which had seen the energy sector decline by an estimated 3 ½ percent in the first six months of 2015.

“The non-energy sector, which has provided support to the overall economy for the past few years lost momentum, declining by around one percent in the first half of 2015.

This decline was mainly due to a slowdown in construction, distribution and manufacturing, “ the statement said.

Schnoor hoped that the new budget to be presented in Parliament next Monday would lead to a discussion with the country about the current situation and the things that need to be done differently. “Because I think there has to be a recognition that some things will have to change and the mix of policies is going to be very important. So I think this is a very big budget at a very important time and I am looking forward to working with the new Minister of Finance to see how we in the banking system can play an important role in the continued development of the economy.” Wearing what she termed her “Bankers Association” hat, she said that even before the change in government the association was usually asked to provide input which it thought would be of interest to the financial sector. She said the association had indicated to the new minister its willingness to meet, to work together “and certainly we welcome any consultation as we work together at a very important time in the country’s history.” Asked whether the country was in a recession after a half year of economic contraction, Schnoor declined to use the “R” word but said “that’s why its very important that we take stock of where we are.

So this is an important budget for us to say ‘look - here is the situation, here is what we need to do and to really be realistic with the country on some of the changes that we have to make.’ The great thing about Trinidad’s financial situation and fiscal situation is that there’s lots of room, there’s lots of room for us to do many different things. Trinidad is not by any means in a crisis situation so I think the government has a unique opportunity to put credible programmes on the table to get us through what hopefully will not be an extended period of reduced oil prices but a period of time where the world is going through global change, where we’re seeing what’s happening in China, we’re seeing what’s happening in Europe, so we have to figure out how we manage through external shocks that are not necessarily of Trinidad and Tobago’s making.”

Source:
Verne Burnett
Newsday
Wednesday September 30, 2015

http://www.newsday.co.tt/business/0,217759.html