00:00A $2.9 billion supplementation in the 2025-2026 fiscal plan places the country's deficit for
00:08the period at $6.79 billion. It is largely to pay wages and recurring expenditure.
00:15As the government is set to take the adjustment to the parliament on Monday,
00:19economist Haruka Obika is sharing his perspective. He believes there may be opportunities for the
00:25government to generate additional revenue, particularly if higher oil and gas prices continue.
00:31He notes that another option remains the Heritage and Stabilization Fund.
00:37Which they have drawn on already in their months in office, as well as borrowings.
00:43The last part would be sale of state enterprises. But the government has shown a willingness to borrow
00:51significantly. We've seen news of World Bank, the Getton Woods Institution, the twin sister to the IMF
00:57being located in Trinidad. Obika says he's still waiting to see a broader economic strategy aimed
01:04at driving long-term growth. He also points to uncertainty in the energy sector, particularly
01:10surrounding Trinidad and Tobago's relationship with Venezuela, warning that delays to cross-border
01:15gas projects could have significant implications.
01:19Venezuela has several fronts. There are fronts with Curaçao, the ABC Islands, they have fronts
01:25with Colombia, Grenada and the Trinidad and Tobago. They can simply allow their international
01:33hydrocarbon partners to utilize the cross-border fields on those other fronts or the fields within
01:39different waters. And they can stall them on the Trinidad and Tobago front indefinitely.
01:44Zoning in on the back pay for public servants, it was totaled at $3.8 billion for the 25,000
01:51workers eligible for payment. But at a glance, at where the proposed $2.9 billion is to go,
01:58Obika doesn't see that matter being addressed, even in part.
02:02I'm not seeing that it covers the public servants. I'm not seeing it. Because a lot of it is load
02:08payments and subventions to factory bodies. These are just bills that recurrent expenditure,
02:17largely, and loan payments that would have come up in the normal order of doing business
02:25at state entities. Therefore, I cannot see that this addresses the back pay issue.
02:31He also doesn't think that the non-cash payment, especially without government bonds being used,
02:37as something which will be accepted or practicable. Obika states that it forces those who have no
02:43financial ties to the state to accept their back pay in the form of leave before retiring,
02:49without certainty that this can be converted to cash given the economic climate.
02:54Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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