Battered economy

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Tuesday that inflation has surged in Trinidad despite weak economic activity.

Inflation hit 6.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2010.

Trinidad's economy was battered in 2009 but is now healing, the agency said.

"The country entered this period of crisis from a position of strength ... The fiscal balance has turned negative, despite a real decline in expenditure in 2009," said Judith Gold, deputy division chief in the IMF's Western Hemisphere Department.

"Growth is expected to pick up only in 2011, with the near-term risks tilted to the downside, reflecting fragile confidence, the weak regional outlook and global uncertainty," she said.

- CMC