Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, has renewed calls for Trinidad and Tobago to establish a reliable mechanism to pay Vincentian farmers in foreign currency, insisting the issue is a long-standing one that must be addressed for regional trade within CARICOM to function fairly.
Speaking Wednesday on NBC Radio, Gonsalves emphasized that while he is not “picking a fight” with Trinidad and Tobago, the current imbalance — where St. Vincent pays over US$65 million annually in hard currency for goods from Trinidad, but receives only TT dollars in return for agricultural exports — is unsustainable.
“If you get TT dollars and you bring the TT dollars here, what are you going to do with them? I say the thing is like monopoly money,” Gonsalves said, reiterating a phrase that recently drew criticism from Trinidad and Tobago’s Energy Minister Dr. Roodal Moonilal.
Moonilal, responding at an energy symposium, had suggested Gonsalves’ remarks overlooked the economic difficulties caused by decisions made under previous governments, including the closure of Petrotrin and the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery.
Gonsalves pushed back, saying his comments were misunderstood and taken out of context. “Normally, as Prime Minister, I don’t get into controversies with ministers… but I believe he and his government will help me to work out this problem,” he said, adding that he would send Moonilal a full copy of the speech he delivered last month during the OECS Assembly.
He stressed that the issue isn’t new and referenced a 2018 speech titled Some Salient Issues for Resolution in CARICOM, where he raised similar concerns. “It is wrong and unconscionable that the relevant authorities in Trinidad and Tobago have failed and or refused to address satisfactorily or at all this burning issue which affects our small farmers adversely,” Gonsalves said.
He also rejected any alignment with calls for the OECS to leave CARICOM, made by St. Lucia’s Opposition Leader Allen Chastanet, stating that despite the challenges, regional unity remains beneficial.
“I want people to understand, I do not have a problem with the people of Trinidad and Tobago,” he said. “When I’m in Trinidad, naturally I use TT dollars, but what am I going to do with TT dollars here?”
While acknowledging his deep personal and cultural ties to Trinidad — including family, music, and shared history — Gonsalves said the trade imbalance created by foreign exchange restrictions must be corrected if the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) is to succeed.
“We can’t be unequally yoked like this,” he said, welcoming the recent appointment of former finance minister Larry Howai as Governor of the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago and expressing hope that meaningful reforms would follow.
“I am saying there are some problems and we have to sort them out,” Gonsalves added.
