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CCNTV6
  • 6 months ago
Former Finance Minister Colm Imbert is putting the government on notice that it is heading down a dangerous path in relation to its high budgetary spending.

Imbert believes the future of the oil and gas industry is in jeopardy based on what has been transpiring recently, compounded by what he stated is a projection by Standard and Poor's of declining hydrocarbon resources.
Transcript
00:00Meanwhile, former finance minister Colm Imbud is putting the government on notice
00:04that it is heading down a dangerous path in relation to its high budgetary spending.
00:09Imbud believes the future of the oil and gas industry is in jeopardy based on what has been
00:14transpiring recently, compounded by what he stated is a projection by Standard & Poor's
00:21of declining hydrocarbon resources.
00:24I wouldn't even bother with the statements made by the Honorable Prime Minister.
00:30About gas from Grenada, Guyana, Suriname, where else?
00:35From Barbados, because that has already been debunked by the governments of those countries.
00:44There is no gas to come from Venezuela and they seem to be happy and gleeful about that.
00:50Happy and gleeful.
00:52In fact, they seem to want to go to war with Venezuela.
00:54Imbud cited projections made in 2024 by the International Monetary Fund, saying that the
01:01United National Congress met over seven months of import cover compared to the international
01:06standard of three months.
01:08According to him, buffers like the Heritage and Stabilization Fund were rated around 20%
01:14of gross domestic product.
01:15However, he suggests that the situation will change in the future and not for the better,
01:21saying a lot of the revenue sources have been scrapped, including property tax amid a lot
01:28of campaign promises.
01:29If they do what they say they are going to do, you're going to have a ballooning of public
01:36expenditure up to $70 billion a year, and you're not going to collect more than $50 billion.
01:43And therefore, they're going to be putting this country into a tailspin.
01:46I am certain that when the rating agencies come again, we are certainly going to lose our
01:54investment-grade rating.
01:55Tonight, we're asking you, do you expect the government to heed the opposition's warning
02:10on increasing the budget deficit?
02:13To vote, text the SO note is the number 766-4886 or 766-4TV6.
02:19We have the results for you at the end of this newscast.
02:21We have the results for you at the end of this newscast.
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