T&T Holds Repo Rate at 3.5%

• Despite concerns coming out about the new Omicron variant of COVID-19 and worldwide inflation, the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago expressed a cautiously optimistic outlook for TT in its monetary policy report for November, issued on Friday. 
• It held its repo rate at 3.5%, where it has been since 2020. In the report, the Central Bank noted that inflation stood at 2.4% in September and excess reserves averaged at about US$7.7Bn in October. It added that natural gas production fell 22.1% in the second quarter of 2021, as compared to the same period last year. 
• The report said the global economy went into recovery mode in the first half of the year, but that recovery has been uneven across countries. The US, China and Europe are now leading the charge in economic recovery. Global crude oil, which suffered from uncertainty and volatility last year, managed to stay afloat between June and October 2021 because of increased demand and a tightened supply over those months. 
• The Omicron variant raised uncertainty in global markets, but despite volatility in the international financial markets, there was still a consensus that the global economy could have better resilience to new variants, especially with vaccinations being administered worldwide.

(Source: Trinidad and Tobago Newsday)