Trinidad and Tobago : Economic Developments and Selected Background Issues

This paper examines economic developments in Trinidad and Tobago during 1990–94. Economic activity in 1992–93 was severely affected by a fall in output in the oil/gas sector, a sharp drop in the average oil export price, and persisting weakness in the nonpetroleum sector. As a result, real GDP declined further by a cumulative 3½ percent in the two-year period, and unemployment rose to more than 20 percent. Real domestic expenditure fell by 3½ percent a year, with declines in both consumption and investment.