At the end of last year, “significant” banks with particularly high levels of NPLs and, among the other banks, those with core tier 1 capital ratios below 10 per cent, jointly held € billion worth of bad loans net of write-downs, also backed by collateral and personal guarantees.
This has led to a sharp slowdown in economic activity so much so that the Government has embarked on a public sector-led recovery programme, in the context of a social compact, involving the private sector and the trade unions. In Trinidad and Tobago, the impact of the global crisis is currently being reflected in the unfolding developments in the energy sector.