Since it was established in 1981, the value of stock market capitalization in Trinidad and Tobago has grown by over 50 times and much of the increase has taken place since 2002. In that year market capitalization was $ billion and this grew to a peak $ billion in mid 2005 before falling to $ billion at end of 2005.
Since then market capitalization has declined by a further 18 percent. When the IMF conducted its financial sector review in mid-2005, prior to the slide in the market, it observed that, “the sharp increase in stock market capitalization was not reflected in earnings”.