The Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago has moved to clarify the legal position on exporting US currency, following media reports of an ongoing investigation into a shipment of US dollars that was reportedly set to leave the country.

In a statement issued Saturday, the Bank said it needed to tread carefully given the active investigation, but acknowledged that the public has legitimate questions about USD exports, particularly at a time when demand for foreign exchange locally is outpacing supply and not all requests for FX are being met.

Addressing the central question of whether exporting US dollars is even legal, the Bank explained that authorised dealers, banks and non-bank institutions licensed under the Financial Institutions Act, 2008 are permitted under the Exchange Control Act to export currency notes that are, or have ever been, legal tender either in Trinidad and Tobago or elsewhere. Such exports and imports happen routinely between authorised dealers as part of normal operations. Importantly, the Bank noted that when a shipment of US cash is matched by an equivalent credit wired back into Trinidad and Tobago and sold on the local market, there is no actual net export of currency taking place.