REVIEW OF THE ECONOMY 2013
50
SUSTAINING GROWTH, SECURING PROSPERITY
29.9 percent and 17.8 percent of the foreign
exchange sold to the public respectively. In
addition, the manufacturing sector accounted
for 13.8percent of the total foreign exchange sold
to the public while other modest contributions
emanated from the automobile, financial
institutions, and telecommunications sectors.
Purchases of foreign exchange from the public
by authorised dealers amounted to US$3,956.8
million during the period October 2012 to June
2013. This represented an increase of 10.7
percent over its value of US$3,575.0 million in
the previous comparative period
(Table 8)
.
The energy sector, traditionally a key source
of foreign currency for the authorised dealers,
accounted for 74.8 percent of total purchases in
2012. Purchases by authorised dealers from the
Central Bank, however, declined by 12.3 percent
from US$1,220.0 million during the nine-month
period ending June 2012 to US$1,070.0 in the
similar period ending June 2013.
During the period October 2012 to June 2013,
the weighted average selling rate for the United
States dollar (US$) depreciated marginally
by 0.13 percent to TT$6.4415 per US$ in June
2013 from TT$6.4333 per US$ in October
2012. The weighted average buying rate for the
US$ marginally depreciated by 0.34 percent
to TT$6.3878 per US$ in June 2013 from
TT$6.3662 per US$ in October 2012. On a year-
on-year basis from June 2012 to June 2013,
the TT dollar depreciated by 0.21 percent from
TT$6.3744 to TT$6.3878.
Figure 14:
Exchange Rates – Buying Rate (TT$
per US$)
Source: Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago
Table 8:
Commercial Banks and Non-Bank Financial Institutions’ Foreign Currency Sales and
Purchases (US$ Mn.)
Period
Purchases
from the Public
Sales to
the Public
Net Sales
to the Public
Purchases from
the
Central Bank
2011
4,755.5
6,186.8
1,431.4
1475.0
2012
4,859.1
6,713.7
1,854.6
1,785.0
Oct 2011 – Jun 2012
3,575.0
4,923.0
1,348.0
1,220.0
Oct 2012 – Jun 2013
3,956.8
4,958.0
1,001.2
1,070.0
Percentage Change
(year-on-year)
10.7
0.7
-25.7
-12.3
Source: Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago.
THE MONETARY SECTOR
