jwala rambarran : improving financial consumer protection introductory remarks by mr jwala rambarran, governor of the central bank of trinidad and tobago, at the 2013 annual breakfast meeting of the financial services ombudsman ( ofso ), port of spain, 26 april 2013. * * * ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the central bank, i extend a sincere welcome to the tenth annual breakfast meeting of the office of financial services ombudsman ( ofso ). the ofso ’ s tenth anniversary celebration comes at a time when the global financial crisis highlighted the significant risks that weak financial consumer protection poses to stability of the world ’ s financial system. the consumer as depositor, policyholder, saver and borrower is the central actor in the financial marketplace. worldwide, some 150 million new consumers join the financial market each year. yet, ironically, the consumer ’ s voice is often the weakest and, very often, is not heard. for this reason, the international community has increased its focus on how to better protect financial consumers. the g20 has adopted nine high - level principles for financial consumer protection. of immediate relevance to the ombudsman ’ s office is principle 9, which speaks to consumers having access to adequate complaints handling and redress mechanisms that are accessible, affordable, independent, fair, accountable, timely and efficient. the world bank has also released its good practices for financial consumer protection. the good practices are intended to be used primarily as a diagnostic tool to answer the question, “ how does a country ’ s legal and regulatory framework for financial consumer protection compare to international practice? ” our own recent financial turmoil arising from the failure of clico, clico investment bank and the hindu credit union suggests that financial consumer protection, financial literacy and financial education are key priorities for regulators. as many of you are aware, tin is the traditional gift of the tenth anniversary. many explanations abound as to why tin was chosen as the gift for the tenth anniversary. one explanation is that the flexibility of tin represents the flexibility of a good relationship, the give and take that makes a relationship strong. another explanation relates to the use of tin to stop corrosion and thus keep food safe. in this meaning, tin symbolizes preservation and longevity. whatever the meaning, it is clear that the ombudsman ’ s office has demonstrated the good qualities associated with tin and can claim many successes over its ten years of operation. some of these achievements are as follows : •

. i must emphasize that the central statistical office ( cso ) is the official source of real annual gdp data, which is published in the ministry of finance and the economy ’ s “ review of the economy ” and which is also published in the central bank ’ s “ annual economic survey ”. on the other hand, the central bank, using a different methodology from the cso, prepares and publishes quarterly real gdp estimates, which are published in its “ economic bulletin ” and “ monetary policy report ”. it is, therefore, foolhardy to treat these two entirely different sets of gdp data as one consistent source for the purpose of evaluating economic projections, either of the bank or the cso. in fact, a simple call to the research department of the central bank will shed much light on such ignorance. i now return to the substantive discussion. based on its revised estimates, the cso indicates that real gdp in trinidad and tobago declined by a much larger than expected 4½ per cent in 2009 and growth was flat in 2010. real gdp declined further by just over 2½ per cent in 2011. projections made by the cso point to a turnaround in 2012, with real gdp increasing by just over 1 per cent. high frequency data compiled by the central bank indicate that economic activity is still quite sluggish but the pace of contraction of the trinidad and tobago economy seems to have slowed in the first half of 2012. according to the bank ’ s quarterly index of real gdp, the domestic economy declined, on average, at a slower rate of 1 ½ per cent in the first six months of 2012, following a deeper contraction of 2¼ per cent over the second half of 2011. despite more intense exploration activity, longer - than - expected plant maintenance operations and security upgrades at energy sector companies continued to hinder crude oil and natural gas production. lower supplies of natural gas impacted the production of petrochemicals. in the first half of 2012, crude oil production fell by 13 per cent, averaging 82, 700 barrels per day, while natural gas output was lower by 6 per cent when compared to the same period in 2011. activity in the non - energy sector was fairly robust although the prolonged strike action at trinidad cement limited led to a severe drop in cement output that curbed growth in the construction and manufacturing sectors. in fact, the non - energy sector has registered growth in three of the past four quarters to june 2012, supported mainly by the finance and distribution sectors. growth in the