Expenditure reduction, containment a priority, says AmChamTT

GOVERNMENT has earned praise from the American Chamber of Commerce of TT (AmChamTT) for reducing and containing expenditure.

AmChamTT also welcomed Finance Minister Colm Imbert’s promises of fiscal transparency and the publication of real-time revenue and expenditure data, as stated in his presentation of the 2018 mid-year budget review yesterday.

“Another commendable announcement is the decision to lay legislation on the revenue authority before a joint select committee of Parliament. This is in keeping with our call for greater bipartisan collaboration on critical national issues. However with core revenues still below $40 billion when the country is operating on a $50 billion budget, AmChamTT says expenditure reduction and containment need to remain a priority.

“The most important point to note...is that even with increased revenue from higher petroleum prices and increased gas production over the last six months, as noted by (Imbert), ‘our core revenues from taxation are still fragile and still below $40 billion, while we are running a $50 billion economy’.

“This means that the deficit between income and expenditure persists to the tune of some $10 billion and is projected to continue over the next few years. While this gap is expected to be closed somewhat in 2018 by the sale of assets and the establishment of the National Investment Fund this year, such measures are unsustainable and therefore continued emphasis on expenditure reduction and containment needs to remain as a priority.”