Financial Services

The Trinidad and Tobago insurance industry was affected by a slower economy in 2015, and the macroeconomic environment will remain difficult in 2016. Despite this, most of the largest insurers remain profitable. Key metrics suggest the industry is resilient, although companies will have to adapt their business models to keep abreast of market...

Trinidad and Tobago’s capital markets have developed against a background of strong energy sector growth, so the current “lower prices for a longer time” outlook for hydrocarbons prices is expected to translate into slower and more modest growth in the near-term. Share prices have remained broadly flat on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange...

The government bond market in Trinidad and Tobago was somewhat subdued in 2015, with no public auctions of TT$-denominated debt taking place. However, as the government embarks on what should be an aggressive domestic borrowing programme in 2016 and the interest rate environment changes, activity could be set to increase markedly.

The fiscal year 2015/16 may be remembered as a period offering both risk and opportunity to investors in the Trinidad and Tobago stock market. While the effects of lower energy prices on an oil and natural gas driven economy cannot be ignored, it remains to be seen how capital markets in T&T will react.

As a result of falling hydrocarbons prices in 2014-16, and the consequential drop in export revenue, the Trinidad and Tobago dollar has come under increasing pressure and has been slowly depreciating. During the same period there was both a change in government – in September 2015 – and a change in the top leadership of the Central Bank of T...

Trinidad and Tobago’s mid-year budget review announced new initiatives by the government to boost revenues, cut expenditures and raise financing to correct the fiscal imbalances brought about by changes in the energy market. Inevitably, many of these initiatives will have consequences for both T&T’s equity and debt capital markets.