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Changes to the for­eign ex­change regime have been long over­due. This was the com­mon­ly shared view fol­low­ing the Trinidad and To­ba­go Cham­ber of Com­merce’s re­lease of a po­si­tion pa­per out­lin­ing caus­es and so­lu­tions to the coun­try’s wors­en­ing for­eign ex­change (forex) cri­sis while urg­ing the Gov­ern­ment to take ac­tion.

For­mer fi­nance Min­is­ter Karen Nunez-Tesheira not­ed there had been signs of de­cline in the for­eign ex­change re­serves from as far back as 2011, but there had been lit­tle ad­just­ments to al­le­vi­ate the is­sue since then.

She felt the best course of ac­tion was to place pri­or­i­ty on lo­cal com­pa­nies that could earn for­eign ex­change as op­posed to com­pa­nies that con­sume for­eign ex­change with­out gen­er­at­ing any re­turns.