CHAIRMAN of the Tobago arm of the T&T Chamber of Industry and Commerce Curtis Williams is calling on Finance Minister Colm Imbert to do more to address the difficulty in accessing foreign exchange, as Tobago businesses are reeling from the situation.
“We have some of our members complaining bitterly. We have members in the technical field who have to pay subscription fees abroad for software licences and other things that need forex to provide their credit cards—and now when you reduce the limit, it becomes hard; they have to go to multiple banks and open up accounts and try to get credit cards from four different banks just to be able to make their monthly commitments to pay these subscription fees,” Williams said.
“We are all waiting on the Minister of Finance to do something—and do something fast—as we in Tobago would slowly disappear,” Williams said. During a press conference on Tuesday, Imbert announced his plans to engage with stakeholders to assess whether the current “honour system” for forex distribution should be revised.
On Sunday, Imbert announced that Cabinet had approved the resumption of the special foreign exchange window at the Export-Import Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (EximBank) for essential imports, following “careful consideration and a comprehensive review” over the past month.
The special window will now receive US$25 million a month, down from the previous allocation of US$30 million, due to the removal of some items previously considered essential from the list.
Meanwhile, Williams is also warning the public in Tobago to brace for higher food prices this Christmas, due to the ongoing protest action by port workers in Port of Spain.
“We already have folks eager and waiting to get their containers cleared and they said: ‘Mr Williams, prices is going to go up’—so let’s brace for it,” Williams said.
Williams is also anticipating changes in foreign policy, particularly in light of Donald Trump’s re-election as President of the United States.
“I see changes coming on the horizon, changes in foreign policies in terms of—let’s look at the tariff; even dealing with the Dragon gas deal that is such an important matter; we have to keep our ears on the ground, because things could change overnight in terms of sanctions, and different things that could happen, and it could affect our arrangement we have with Venezuela. So it’s something that we must keep close to our heart in moving forward,“ he said.