Trinidad and Tobago’s net official foreign reserves totalled US$5.747 billion at the end of July, the highest level in more two years, according to information in the Central Bank’s Data Centre. The last time the country’s foreign reserves exceeded the July number was in June 2024, when the reserves amounted to US$5.983 billion.
The foreign reserves for July 2026 provided 6.7 months of import cover for T&T, while the reserves for June 2024 were enough to cover 8.4 months of export cover.
Asked what accounted for the increase in the net official foreign reserves, the Central Bank said last Wednesday the recent increase is primarily attributable to the receipt of proceeds from a US-dollar bond transaction conducted by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago (GORTT).
The Government successfully completed the issuance of a US$800 Million sovereign bond in the United States market on July 9. The 12-year bond was priced with a coupon of 6.20 per cent, and was oversubscribed by approximately 400 per cent, representing the largest level of oversubscription achieved by T&T since the issuance of the country’s first benchmark-size bond in 2013.
“These funds were received by the Central Bank and, as is customary in such transactions, the full amount was recorded in the country’s foreign reserves.
“A loan payment of US$417 million, inclusive of accrued interest, was made in early August, reflecting partial use of the proceeds to liquidate a Government bond maturing at that time. The current reserve position (as of August 19) is US$5.2 billion, representing 6.1 months of import cover,” the Central Bank said.
Last week, the Central Bank told Guardian Media that it had initiated measures to improve the availability of foreign exchange in the local market. Among the measures was re-introduction of a sharing arrangement with authorised dealers to help achieve a more balanced distribution of available foreign exchange.
