Migrant crisis could cost $620m annually

The Venezuelan migrant crisis could cost the state $620 million annually, the Central Bank estimates.

Speaking at the launch of the Financial Stability Report today at Central Bank tower, Eric Williams Finance Complex, Port of Spain, Central Bank governor Dr Alvin Hilaire said when the research department gave him the figure, even he didn’t believe it at first.

“Initially I doubted it and said this can’t be it but when I looked at other countries – Colombia in particular – they estimated it would cost 0.4 per cent of their GDP and in their case they have about 1.2 million Venezuelans or 2.5 per cent of their 50 million population. Our estimate is at least 40,000 or about three per cent of the population so the numbers are reasonable but it’s something we have to be aware of because the short term and long term impacts could be significant,” Hilaire said.

This was a humanitarian situation, he said, but the country has to be aware of the economic impact. “How do we finance? It will be a hit on the budget. Some countries – and this is something we will advocate for strongly – have gotten international assistance.

Colombia for example, got US$31.5 million from the World Bank fairly recently. And this was a grant, so they don’t have to pay it back. There’s also a facility at the Inter-American Development Bank for US$100 million. We should be able to access that because of the seriousness of our situation,” he said.