Foreign investors not worried about crime

Addressing a luncheon hosted by Caribbean Money Market Brokers (CMMB) and US investment firm Bear Stearns Inc at the Hilton Trinidad yesterday, Bear Stearns (head of emerging markets sovereign research) Dr Carl Ross said crime was "below the radar screens" of US and European investors.

Ross said crime was not dampening the enthusiasm of these investors to seek our opportunities in the emerging markets within the Caribbean.

He further indicated that foreign investors were not perturbed about moves by Caricom to implement the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) or regional problems concerning preferential market access for sugar and bananas.

Noting the "good news" sweeping Trinidad and Tobago following the Soca Warriors 1-0 victory over Bahrain on Wednesday and TT’s qualification for the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany, Ross said the news keeps getting "better and better" for TT in the realm of finance.

Highlighting credit rating statistics for the Caribbean from 1999 to 2005, he said TT stood out as one of the few nations where its credit ratings were strong and rising. In the case of Central America, Ross said most of these nations have unchanged credit ratings over the 1999 to 2005 period.

Ross also indicated that the role of the Caribbean in global emerging markets continues to perform well. He said the outlook for 2006 depends on developments in individual nations, the US interest rate market and valuation concerns.

Head of the CMMB’s group investment management unit, Wayne Dass, however argued that crime in TT is eating away at investor confidence and this is evident in the non-energy sector of the economy.

He also claimed that there was a small brain-drain occurring in TT because of the levels of crime in the country. While noting that TT’s energy sector was doing well, Dass said there remained concerns about whether the non-energy sector was keeping up and above overall business competitiveness in TT.

Notwithstanding these concerns, Dass predicted more robust economic growth, strong external financial positions and a small budget surplus by mid-2006.