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.
Comments