Trinidad and Tobago is in recession - according to data released by the Central Bank.

During the period October 2008 to March 2009 the country’s economic growth fell by more than four per cent.

The first quarter of 2009 showed a -3.3 decline in real GDP while the last quarter of 2008 showed a 1.1 per cent dip.

The statistics for the second quarter of 2009 have not yet been released.

A recession, according to the definition accepted by most economists, is when there are two successive quarters of economic decline in a country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) advises that a broader number of indicators be used to ascertain whether or not a country is facing a recession.

A breakdown of the Central Bank’s Summary of Economic Indicators posted on its website on July 23 shows that the country has not only experienced two successive quarters of negative economic growth in its real GDP but declines across several sectors.

Last week Prime Minister Patrick Manning, during a breakfast meeting at La Romaine, advised the population to ’release’ their belts and breathe a little by taking advantage of existing opportunities in the financial sector, Central Bank Governor Ewart Williams said recently that available data showed that the Trinidad and Tobago economy was decelerating faster than anticipated and the country would likely register zero, or even negative GDP growth this year.

He maintained that the country’s economy was not in recession but in ’stagnation’.