The State of Emergency is taking a toll on Trinidad and Tobago businesses.

In the week-and-a-half since the State of Emergency was imposed in four municipalities and the country's two major cities, companies have had to adjust to the eight-hour 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew.

Manufacturers have had to cut shifts to ensure employees get home before Police and Defence Force personnel start patrols in Port of Spain, San Fernando, San Juan and other areas categorised as crime hot spots.

Hotels, security firms and supermarkets have also been affected as they had to close their doors earlier than usual.

Estimates vary from place to place and company to company but it is easy to speculate that by the end of the 15-day curfew later this week, Trinidad and Tobago businesses would have lost millions of dollars.

Several business groups met Trade Minister Stephen Cadiz last Thursday to discuss the impact on the economy.

Some distributors complained they were losing perishable goods because the ports had to stop operations and clearing containers before 9 p.m.

Night-life at places like Ariapita Avenue, Port of Spain and St James have ceased even before the 9 p.m. curfew start.

Restaurants have also had to take early reservations only and vendors around the Queen's Park Savannah had to leave their favourite spots all of last week.

But it is a small price to pay if the country hopes to recover from the violent crime that has plagued it for years, says members of the government.

Trade Minister Cadiz said business groups met with him last week to discuss how they had been affected by the State of Emergency.

He admitted it was going to affect business in the country but said the government was mindful of it and hoped the impact on businesses and vendors would be resolved soon.

Central Bank Governor Ewart Williams says there will be an effect on the economy.

"It is too early to say at this time exactly what the effect on the economy will be as a result of the declaration of the State of Emergency," Williams said last Friday.

"However I am certain there is going to be some impact to the extent that some businesses have to close early," he said.

He made the statements during a break in the Commonwealth Regulatory Workshop at the Hyatt Regency (Trinidad) Hotel, Port of Spain.

"But in the final analysis crime was a big issue and crime was adding to the cost of doing business. If this State of Emergency succeeds in significantly reducing the rule of crime then other things being equal it should in the long term help the business climate and that is what we are hoping for," Williams said.

Williams said he was in favour of the measure as a citizen concerned about this country's rising crime.

"I am a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago and yes I am in support of anything that reduces the level of crime in the country. Absolutely," he said.

"The bottom line is the level of crime was clearly adding to the cost of doing business. I hear what you say about the losses that are obviously taking place in the tourist industry, in distribution and in other sectors of the economy but these kinds of measures invariably have a cost. The big issue is the extent to which the cost you pay is compensated by the benefits that you get down the road and it is only time will tell," Williams said.

He said he believed that potential investors will adopt a wait and see approach on the way forward for business with this country.

"These kinds of dislocations have their impact on production structures. These kinds of dislocations engender a wait and see attitude on the part of investors and I am sure that is going to happen here. I am sure that investors are now going to want to make sure that some of the root causes of the state of emergency have been addressed but in the final analysis I think we are going to be fine," he said.

Planning Minister Dr Bhoe Tewarie said last week individuals and businesses losing money due to the State of Emergency need to look at the "big picture" and it was a cost that had to be borne.

He was speaking following a key distribution ceremony at the Housing Development Corporation's Clifton Street Towers complex, Port of Spain. Tewarie was questioned on how the government could comfort people who are losing significant due to the curfew by not being able to work night shifts, including single mothers with school related costs.

"We understand that it is a real cost but it is the cost of having security and of addressing the issue of criminals out of the community which is what is taking place as part of the State of Emergency," he said.

He noted that Government was aware that there were individuals who were having a loss of income, and small businesses who operate and businesses that operate mostly in the evening and night were experiencing a problem.

"It is a cost we have to bear if we are going to deal with this matter. It is not going to last forever but the point is that we've got to act and we've got to act within the framework within which we can achieve the objectives of the state of emergency which are really to take the criminals out of the system, to use our justice system to deal with them, to curb the crime, to curb the gang violence, and ultimately to begin a restorative strategy and a developmental strategy in the communities," he said.

Questioned about the long term financial impact of the state of emergency and whether the fragile economy could sustain this loss of revenue, Tewarie reiterated that it would not last forever and Government was proceeding with plans to address the long term effects. He declined, however, to elaborate on these plans saying that he "cannot".

He also advised that some of the businesses that have workers on a shift system need to develop a strategy to work around the curfew.

Other countries have considered implementing a State of Emergency but worried about how nit would affect their economies

St Lucia's National Security Minister Guy Mayers said recently his government came close to declaring a state of emergency here earlier this year when it was faced with a spate of rising crime, but was discouraged by the effect the move would have on the economy.

Commenting on the move by Trinidad and Tobago to call a State of Emergency in an effort to quell rising crime Mayers said his government considered the move when heightened criminal gang activity earlier this year resulted in 15 homicides during the first three months of 2011.

"We operate as a region so we are looking on with interest at what is happening in Trinidad and Tobago. And yes at the height of the problems we were having here earlier this year, a state of emergency in the hot spots was certainly one of the options that were considered.

"When you are going through that kind of difficulty you have to weigh all of your options, but we did not think we had reached a point where we needed to implement such a measure in St Lucia," the Minister said.