BUDGET 2024: BACKPAY AND MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE

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Finance Minister Colm Imbert presented a 59 billion dollar budget on Monday, citing projected economic growth in 2024 and 2025 due to a rebound in the energy sector, and more robust performance by the non-energy sector. And with increased  expenditure comes some goodies for workers with the Minister announcing both backpay and an increase in the minimum wage. Rynessa Cutting reports.

Transcript

00:00 Good news for public servants in the 2024 budget.

00:04 We have provided $1 billion in back pay

00:09 for those 37,000 public sector workers

00:13 who have accepted our offer of a 4% increase,

00:17 plus increase in some allowance.

00:20 We shall also bring all those public sector workers

00:24 up to their new salary levels immediately

00:27 at a cost of an additional $360 million per year.

00:32 Minimum wage workers also have something to look forward to.

00:36 I propose to increase the minimum wage by 17%

00:41 or $3 per hour from $17.50 to $20.50 per hour.

00:54 This measure will benefit approximately 190,000 persons

00:59 in the workforce and will require an amendment

01:02 to the Minimum Wages Act, Chapter 8804,

01:06 via a minimum wage order.

01:09 This measure will take effect from January 1, 2024.

01:15 The announcement came, as the finance minister said,

01:18 all the data points to growth for the economy,

01:21 something which is also reflected in the unemployment rate.

01:25 According to the latest available quarterly

01:28 labour force and employment data

01:30 from the Central Statistical Office,

01:33 the unemployment rate declined to 3.7%

01:38 over the period April to June 2023,

01:42 from 4.9% in January to March 2023.

01:47 This rate is one of the lowest unemployment rates

01:50 ever achieved in Trinidad and Tobago.

01:53 The finance minister presented a $59.209 billion budget.

01:59 It's a bigger budget than fiscal 2023,

02:02 but so too is the projected deficit.

02:05 We expect total revenue for 2024 to be $54.012 billion,

02:16 total expenditure in 2024 to be $59.209 billion,

02:27 with a fiscal deficit of $5.197 billion.

02:36 Despite the slightly larger budget,

02:38 the finance minister is predicating this year's budget

02:41 on slightly more conservative oil and gas figures

02:44 than last year.

02:46 Our oil price assumptions for 2024 will be US$85 per barrel,

02:53 compared with US$92.50 per barrel in 2023.

02:58 And our natural gas price assumption will be US$5 per mm BTO,

03:04 compared with US$6 per mm BTO in 2023.

03:09 And while national security continues to be the point of contention,

03:13 education maintains the largest slice of the pie.

03:17 Education and training, $8.022 billion.

03:22 Health, $7.409 billion.

03:26 National security, $6.912 billion.

03:31 Works and transport, $3.394 billion.

03:35 Public utilities, $3.018 billion.

03:41 Rural development and local government, $1.825 billion.

03:45 Agriculture, $1.442 billion.

03:48 Housing, $1.165 billion.

03:51 And we mustn't forget social development,

03:53 at an excess of $5 billion.

03:56 Ranessa Cutting, TV6 News.

03:58 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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