FINANCE Minister Colm Imbert says he is "encouraged and heartened" by conclusions drawn by the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) mission staff, who found that Trinidad and Tobago's economic outlook "is gaining momentum" and predicted a positive medium-term outlook after their recent visit.

An IMF staff team was in Port of Spain between February 28 and March 8 and met with stakeholders, including government departments, private-sector organisations and state institutions.

They then produced an analysis of Trinidad and Tobago's economic data, and an accompanying statement, containing its main conclusions and recommendations.

The IMF, in its mission concluding statement, found that Trinidad and Tobago's economy is "undergoing a gradual and sustained recovery" for the first time in a decade.

The IMF has also concluded that "the 2024 Budget Envelope is appropriate to support the domestic recovery and address infrastructure needs.

"The balance of risk (in the medium term) is to the upside, stemming from additional new gas projects and the implementation of planned structural reform, which could boost growth," said the IMF.

The Ministry of Finance issued a media release on March 11 in which it interpreted the IMF as saying, "In other words, the balance of probability is that our economy will continue to improve with sustained economic growth.

"The IMF mission also emphasised the importance of continuing to broaden the basis of our economic growth through diversification, which it has found to be happening, and of having a more predictable fiscal policy through energy price cycles to keep the public debt at moderate levels and to save for the future."

Imbert, the release said, "is also encouraged by the IMF’s constructive support of our approach to macroeconomic policy and the progress made by Trinidad and Tobago in strengthening financial integrity and international tax transparency frameworks."

He said this has only occurred because the Ministry of Finance and the government have "exercised fiscal discipline over the last eight years, thus creating the conditions for sustained growth."

As a result, he said, "We can now confidently turn to future structural challenges such as climate and energy transition and the adaptation to fast-changing international requirements such as tax transparency and global carbon taxation."

The full statement can be found at www.imf.org.

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