Secretary of Finance Petal-Ann Roberts says she has identified specific areas for accelerated economic growth in Tobago, as preparations continue for the upcoming THA Budget Presentation on June 23.
Speaking on the Morning Edition, Roberts said the focus will be on stimulating productivity and encouraging greater citizen participation in Tobago's economic development.
00:00Finance Secretary Petalan Roberts says this year's budget plans are designed to energize key sectors and equip residents to take a more active role in the island's growth.
00:12Roberts says the goal is to lay the groundwork for sustainable growth by aligning policy with innovation and community involvement.
00:21These will include the tourism sector, agriculture. We want to look at human capital development. We want our people to become more resourceful, productive, efficient.
00:33We want to look at advancing digital technologies, utilizing digital technologies, especially in the core areas of the areas under the Tobago House of Assembly.
00:45In the public service, we want to look at the SME sector.
00:49She says public infrastructure systems, public housing and coastal protection are also being prioritized as part of the broader strategy to support economic development and safeguard the island's long-term resilience.
01:04We have had discussions with, I think it's CAF, the Latin American Bank. We did have discussions with them on the coastal protection works that we expect to see.
01:16We want to really advance some of these areas.
01:19So those are some of the broad areas that we've been looking at in the budget.
01:22The budget will also consider the other areas like settlements, we will consider community development, health, education.
01:32Secretary Roberts also confirmed that she met with the Minister of Finance and is optimistic about collaboration and mutual respect moving forward.
01:40She says during their discussion, she stated her expectation of a minimum 5.1% allocation for Tobago, which the Minister agreed to in principle.
01:52Roberts also raised concerns about the impact of delayed allocations to the THA and the burden of overdraft interests.
02:00Also, the cumulative overdraft interest affects the liquidity on THA's resources because we have not yet cleared that backlog of overdraft interests over the years.
02:13Because as you know, the bank takes their overdraft interest. It's not a budgetary expenditure.
02:19It's an off-budget expenditure and it actually affects the bank account.
02:23However, she believes there will be improvements in both the allocation amount and the timeliness of disbursements under the new government administration.
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