Ewart Williams was speaking at the launch of the December 2011 Financial Stability Report at Central Bank Tower, Port of Spain.
"You'll have to wait and see. Anything signed now, not much is going to happen for quite some time. It might portend good times down the road but it takes time to work out plans and bring projects into operation.
"It might certainly strengthen business confidence but I'm not sure it might be reflected in direct increase in activity immediately," Williams said.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar told the media on Sunday that at least 10 Indian companies have made commitments to invest in Trinidad & Tobago. She said her delegation me with more than 100 companies during her two-week visit. She noted that there is a possibility of many more companies investing locally.
Persad-Bissessar explained that the state-owned INVEST TT signed five Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) “and more than 15 per cent of them are expected to be in T&T within the next three months to conduct discussions and the necessary feasibility studies and submit project proposals.”
She added: “Two will actually be in T&T before the end of this month, January.” The business discussions focused on ICT, wastewater management, ship-building and repair, business process out-sourcing, the film industry, fashion, plastics and agriculture, she said.
She also announced that an inter-ministerial committee would be set up “to oversee the actualisation of the outcomes of this mission. This team will be convened by the next two weeks” and report to her and Cabinet “on the way forward with a clear implementation timetable, sector by sector.”
She also said several “incoming exploratory missions” from India would visit T&T over the next few months.
Commenting on the state of the economy, Williams said that the economy has stabilised. He said inflation is fairly under control, the country has a healthy foreign exchange position and a "strong, robust" financial system.
"Low consumer demand is more closely reflected in the core inflation rate and that has remained constant at around 1-1.5 per cent the last year to year-and-a-half," Williams stated.
"I think there are several indicators that suggest that we are not in a bad situation. The data shows economic growth has slipped since 2008 since the international financial crisis. The first order of business must be to have an economic recovery. From that perspective, it is a challenge we need to address," he said.
Williams also spoke of two government-guaranteed loans amount to $630 million taken by the previous government for projects that the present government is not pursuing. These are an E-Teck venture and the Broadgate project.
Williams said this has created "an awkward position" for the Central Bank, since it's the first time a government-guaranteed loan had slipped into non-performing status.
"It is possible this status is a transitional measure while there is some rethinking what to do with those projects.
"The point is that the banks have no choice if the loans are not serviced for the statutory three-month service to put them into non-performing status. It raises the very important issue as to the criteria for guaranteeing loans to the private sector and I think the government recognises that this is something that needs serious consideration," he said.
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