Phamaceutical and chicken companies have topped the list of foreign exchange (forex) users who obtained money from the EximBank over the last five years.
Between 2020 and June 30, 2025, the companies were allocated funds under the special forex window of the EximBank’s Forex Allocation System (FAS), which was created in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic for essential imports.
The figures are contained in a bundle of documents which also details total forex sold to the manufacturing sector from 2018 to June 30, 2025.
Planning Minister Kennedy Swaratsingh
These documents form part of a comprehensive report being prepared with data from the EximBank and other sources submitted to the Ministry of Trade, Investment and Tourism.
Trade Minister Satyakama Maharaj
According to the data, a handful of major companies secured the most forex, with many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) behind.
special forex window: The EximBank, Queen’s Park West, Port of Spain. From 2020 to mid-2025, the EximBank distributed US$1.4 billion in forex to 123 companies.
Top recipients under the essential window (2020-June 30, 2025):
1. Smith Robertson and Company Ltd (now Aventa Trinidad and Tobago Ltd)—US$100,184,273
2. Nutrimix Feeds Ltd—US$78,503,000
3. Arawak and Company Ltd—US$76,203,000.
Some companies were able to “double-dip”, receiving allocations under both the essential window and the bank’s regular operations.
Top recipients under the normal operations window:
1. Arawak and Company Ltd—US$64,416,110 (2022-June 30, 2025)
2. Trinrico Steel and Wire Products Ltd—US$60,785,290 (2019-June 30, 2025)
3. Nutrimix Feeds Ltd—US$53,500,000 (2022-June 30, 2025).
From 2020 to mid-2025, the EximBank distributed US$1.4 billion in forex to 123 companies under the essential window.
Separately, US$1.2 billion was sold to manufacturers under normal operations between 2018 and June 2025.
The special forex window was created by the former People’s National Movement (PNM) government in 2020 to facilitate essential imports during the pandemic.
In a November 2024 media release, the Ministry of Finance said that this window had allocated US$30 million monthly over a four-year period since inception.
Essential imports covered by the window included cleaning supplies, sanitary items, protective gear, toothpaste, hand sanitisers, face masks, tissue paper, deodorants, vaccines, over-the-counter medications, pharmaceuticals, and key food products.
Last year, the Express exclusively reported complaints from businesses unable to access forex through the special window.
Then-finance minister Colm Imbert explained that the facility was initially meant to be temporary.
However, after significant public outcry, the Cabinet agreed on November 1, 2024, to resume the forex window in a restructured format.
The release said that the list of qualifying items—foods, pharmaceuticals, and essential hygiene products such as sanitary napkins—would remain unchanged, but subject to periodic review.
“However, it will be subject to periodic review to see whether items should be added or deleted, as necessary. For example, retaining borderline food items (on the margin between essential and non-essential) such as sausages is arguable. For the avoidance of doubt, Covid-19 pandemic-related items such as hand soap, toothpaste, face masks, deodorant, respirators, and hand sanitisers are no longer considered to be ‘essential’ imports,” said the release.
New Govt probes
forex crisis
During the election campaign, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar had promised to address the ongoing forex crisis should the United National Congress (UNC) win the April 28 general election.
On May 15, at a post-Cabinet news conference at the Red House, Port of Spain, Persad-Bissessar confirmed the Government would compile a comprehensive report on forex distribution and leakages over the last decade as she vowed to frontally treat with forex “cartels”.
Finance Minister Davendranath Tancoo, Planning Minister Kennedy Swaratsingh, and Trade Minister Satyakama Maharaj have been tasked with producing the report.
Persad-Bissessar said then, “This is a serious matter. We need to know where the forex went, who it went to, why it went, and how it was deployed. Those reports will come to us and we will share them with you.”
The Prime Minister promised that the report would be made public to identify main users, “the main facilitators of this distribution and explain to the public how this entire forex distribution cartel and conspiracy between certain operatives and businesses were functioning”.
She has insisted on changes to ensure SMEs gain fairer access to forex.
The data obtained by the Sunday Express reveals that large food companies, among them supermarkets, received between US$20 million and US$55 million, while smaller firms were allocated less.
New EximBank
board coming
Sources further confirmed that a new board of the EximBank has been selected and will receive their instruments of appointment within the month.
A senior Government official said the new board will be “shaking things up” and eradicating any preferential treatment and access to forex for certain companies that have been hogging US dollars for the past few years.
It was also noted by the official that some companies receiving substantial forex allocations have links to individuals who previously or currently hold public office, having been appointed under the former administration.
A member of the technical team compiling the data described the findings as “startling”, adding that “there are companies ‘double-dipping’ for forex—meaning they are getting access via the essential window and the normal operations”.
Another official added, “This cannot be allowed to continue. If you look at the data, you would see there is no shortage of forex in the country. There is a problem where a few companies are hogging millions and a bulk of companies are being left with breadcrumbs.”
Particular scrutiny has been placed on the high forex usage by chicken-importing companies, which one official described as both “alarming and questionable”.
“These companies are accessing millions via the EximBank and then they are also getting from the commercial banks, too—all of them—all the banks. So that is why when an ordinary person goes to the bank for forex, they are getting a pittance of US$200 and US$300. It is major forex hogging taking place,” the official said.
The Sunday Express was told that the essential window cannot continue in its current form, and that a new system will be implemented once the new EximBank board reviews the data and submits its recommendations.
A key priority will be improving SME access to forex.
In 2015, then-Central Bank governor Jwala Rambarran was dismissed by the then-PNM administration after publicly disclosing the names of the largest forex users in Trinidad and Tobago.
At the time, then-minister Imbert accused Rambarran of violating several laws.
Rambarran maintained he was legally permitted to release the names and argued that the public had a right to know that most of the forex was being used in the import and distribution trade.
The 18 companies he named had accessed US$3.462 billion in forex over three years.
He later won a case for wrongful dismissal and was awarded over $5.4 million in compensation.
The Sunday Express tried to contact EximBank chief executive officer Navin Dookeran but calls to his telephone went unanswered.
