00:00Speaking with TV6 News via telephone on Tuesday, Orupuj East MP Dr. Rudan Munilal
00:05made reference to the issue of foreign exchange after the Privy Council ruled
00:10that the state-owned Estate Management and Business Development Company Limited
00:14must pay an outstanding sum of TT $82.8 million to Junior Sammy Contractors
00:21Limited for works carried out on a project.
00:24I call upon the EMBDC and the Ministry of Finance immediately to disclose the fees paid
00:32and monies expended in this outrageous and really scandalous matter of the EMBDC.
00:39Dr. Munilal was referring to the fees the state paid to its attorneys outside of Trinidad and Tobago.
00:46In a country where, as you know, there's a crisis of foreign exchange today,
00:50a businessman cannot get 200 US dollars in the bank.
00:55And this money paid to lawyers and firms in Miami and in London,
01:00they were paid fees in foreign currency.
01:03They were paid in British pounds and US dollars.
01:06And that is where all the foreign exchange is going from this country,
01:10rather than to help small business, to help the manufacturing sector, to, you know, to propel the economy.
01:16Last week, Finance Minister Colm Imbert told the Senate
01:20that the importation of motor cars is one of the largest consumers of foreign exchange in Trinidad and Tobago.
01:26And in an apparent response to a front-page article in the Express newspaper on Tuesday,
01:32Finance Minister Imbert declared on the social media platform X
01:36that Trinidad and Tobago's, quote,
01:38Ex-Im Bank was established to facilitate the growth and expansion of our export
01:43and manufacturing sectors to enhance our foreign exchange earnings and create employment
01:49through assistance to our exporting companies
01:52and not to facilitate wholesalers of imported finished goods.
01:56End quote. On Tuesday, the Express reported that the owner
01:59and founder of Ramsaran Dairy Products wrote to the International Monetary Fund,
02:04the IMF, just over a week ago on October 18th,
02:08calling on the IMF to intervene in what he also called Trinidad and Tobago's foreign exchange of forex crisis
02:15and hold the government to account for what he described as its lack of transparency,
02:21which is severely affecting businesses.
02:24The Express also reported that in subsequent letters,
02:27the business owner also wrote to the Auditor General requesting urgent action
02:31and to the central bank governor asking for information on forex distribution.
02:38Finance Minister Imbert said on X that,
02:39quote, the Express is facilitating a campaign of economic destruction
02:44that the IMF should manage and control the distribution by the central bank of the government's foreign exchange
02:52that will not happen under our watch since it would lead to instant devaluation and massive inflation.
02:59End quote. In his latest post on X,
03:02Finance Minister Imbert said he checked with the Ex-Im Bank on Tuesday and he,
03:07quote, was told that the businessman the paper is promoting has never applied
03:12to the Ex-Im Bank for access to foreign exchange.
03:16Never. End quote.
03:18Jule Brown, TV6 News.
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