Budget details under wraps

DETAILS of the 2019-2020 budget are being kept tightly under wraps. Last month in the House of Representatives, Finance Minister Colm Imbert said the budget will be presented in the House on October 7 (next Monday). The government also held a retreat at the Diplomatic Centre last month to discuss the details of the budget.

Contacted yesterday, Minister in the Ministry of Finance Allyson West said it was only natural for people to be wondering what kind of budget would be presented next week.

Some commentators have speculated it could be an election budget with local government elections due this year.

West directed all questions about the budget to Imbert, but he could not be reached for comment.

After Imbert makes his presentation on Monday, the Opposition Leader is expected to give her response in the House next Friday. The budget will be debated in the House, discussed by the House's Standing Finance Committee and debated in the Senate over the course of this month. By law, it must be approved before October 31.

Last October, Imbert presented a $51.776 billion budget. In his presentation then, he said government had succeeded in turning around the economy and setting the stage for growth. Imbert listed six game-changers that would transform the economy. These included the reform of former state energy company Petrotrin, the Sandals Resort project in Tobago, a dry dock and ship building facility in La Brea and the acquisition of two new fast ferries from Australia for the domestic seabridge.

On September 20, Imbert said government had accepted a US$700 million bid from Pa­tri­ot­ic En­er­gies and Tech­nolo­gies Com­pa­ny for Petrotrin's Pointe-a-Pierre refinery. This company is wholly owned by the Oilfield Workers Trade Union. Imbert is expected to provide further details in his budget presentation.

Sandals withdrew from the Tobago project in January because of negative publiclity surrounding it. Sandals Resorts International CEO Gebhard Rainer said commercial negotiations had not started and the cost of the withdrawal was borne totally by Sandals.

An agreement was signed between the National Infrastructure Development Company and China Harbour Engineering Company for the La Brea dry docking facility last September. In January, Energy Minister Franklin Khan said construction will start on the facility later this year. Khan said this will create 3,500 direct and 5,700 indirect jobs in the southwestern peninsula. The ferries, from Australian shipbuilders Austal and Incat, are expected to arrive in TT in mid-2020.

The Education, National Security, Health, Works and Transport and Public Utilities Ministries received allocations of $7.4, $6.1, $5.7, $3.5 and $3.1 billion respectively. These ministries could again receive large allocations in this year's budget.

The price of super gasoline was slightly increased from $3.97 to $4.97 per litre last October, while the price of diesel was maintained at $3.41 per litre. There has been no indication of any other adjustments to the fuel subsidy.

Imbert is also expected to provide an update on issues such a property tax, the revenue authority and foreign exchange.