00:00On Monday, the Office of the Prime Minister announced that Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley
00:05returned to Trinidad and Tobago from Samoa, where he led a delegation to the 2024 Commonwealth
00:10Heads of Government meeting.
00:12In their leader's statement outlining decisions taken during the meeting, the Commonwealth
00:17Heads of Government reiterated the potential to further increase intra-Commonwealth trade
00:22and investment, building on the recognised Commonwealth advantage, and highlighted the
00:28urgent need of reforming the global financial architecture.
00:32It is one of the matters the Commonwealth leaders discussed, as Trinidad and Tobago
00:36is facing a particular challenge with its own economy.
00:40On Sunday, Finance Minister Colm Imbott posted a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter,
00:46in response to a Sunday Express front page article which reported that a number of business
00:51owners appealed for intervention to address what many identify as a foreign exchange or
00:57forex crisis.
00:59Minister Imbott said on X that, quote,
01:01During COVID, we created a special window at the Ex-Im Bank to provide U.S. dollars
01:06for essential imports, such as food and medicine.
01:09COVID is over, so we are reviewing the feasibility of that forex window.
01:13The need for a review cannot be too difficult, a concept for the Express to grasp, end quote.
01:20This was an apparent update to what the Finance Minister told the Senate last week on October
01:2421st when he began its debate of the Appropriation Bill for the 2025 financial year.
01:30He was at the time speaking about why the government is encouraging all energy companies
01:35operating in Trinidad and Tobago to pay their taxes in U.S. dollars.
01:39Currently, based on the information available to me, only 50% of energy sector taxes are
01:46paid in U.S. dollars, the balance in TT, and this is despite the fact that 100% of the
01:52exports of oil, gas, and petrochemical companies are in U.S. dollars.
01:58So it is something we need to deal with so that we would have a greater inflow of U.S.
02:04dollars coming into the Treasury, which would deal with the reserves, because there's many
02:10questions as to why, being an oil-producing country, we have difficulty with our foreign
02:16reserves, and this is the reason why.
02:18Later on that day, in the Upper House, Independent Senator Sunithi Miraj posed a question of her own.
02:24What would be helpful is for the Minister to say to what extent is his budget dependent
02:30on foreign exchange.
02:32The government has the first call on foreign exchange.
02:35When we earn it and we get our taxes and royalties, I imagine the first call is for service in
02:40debt.
02:41The government has been very scrupulous about that, and I think that's important.
02:48But the budget items itself, what the government intends to pay for and buy, goods and services,
02:54there is also foreign exchange consumption.
02:58When the Finance Minister wound up in the Senate's debate of the appropriation bill
03:01on October 23rd, he responded to Senator Miraj.
03:05Senator Miraj spoke about the budget's reliance on foreign exchange, okay, and then said that
03:11whereas taxes and royalties are crucial, they are budget items that consume foreign
03:15exchange.
03:16That's not entirely correct.
03:19What consumes foreign exchange in Trinidad and Tobago is consumerism.
03:24The Finance Minister then gave an example.
03:27For example, the importation of motor cars is one of the largest consumers of foreign
03:31exchange in the country.
03:32That's not a budget item, per se.
03:34That is a symptom of the country's desire for car ownership.
03:42In his budget statement on September 30th, Finance Minister Inbred said the government
03:46will once again issue interest-bearing VAT bonds in fiscal 2025 in the sum of $3 billion,
03:53with a target date for issuance of January 31st, 2025.
03:57However, the Finance Minister said that on this occasion, these bonds will be issued
04:02in a manner that does not create difficulties or shortages in the local foreign exchange
04:08market.
04:09Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
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