The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) says Trinidad and Tobago is among oil-producing countries in Latin America and the Caribbean severely affected by the sharp drop in petroleum prices.
It says exports from Latin America and the Caribbean will drop by an estimated 14 per cent in 2015 due to a steep decline in prices and weak demand for the region’s main exports from key trading partners.
The IDB’s “Latin American and Caribbean Trade Trend Estimates 2016” annual report notes that exports dropped for the third year in a row, with the decline intensifying and spreading to virtually all nations in the region.
The IDB says oil-exporting countries were affected the most by the sharp drop in petroleum prices with Venezuela and Colombia posting the biggest contraction rates, followed by Bolivia, Ecuador, and Trinidad and Tobago.
El Salvador and Guatemala were the only two countries where exports rose, due to a strong increase in their sugar shipments to China.
The report includes detailed data from 24 countries in the region. For the first time, it includes data from six Caribbean nations: Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.
The region’s trade performance reflects a sharp drop in the prices of major commodities. The trade decline also stems from a weakening in demand from the region’s main trading partners. For the region as a whole, the worst declines occurred in trade with Asia, excluding China, which fell 19 per cent, with the European Union -18 per cent, and in intraregional flows -19 per cent.
