PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Sept 30, CMC – Finance Minister Colm Imbert Monday presented a budget of TT$59.7 billion (One TT dollar=US$0.16 cents) to Parliament indicating that the government had taken a “deliberate decision not to increase or reduce any existing taxes”.
In a presentation lasting almost five and a half hours, Imbert said that the Keith Rowley administration had decided any any new tax measure “other than some positive adjustments to the tax regime in the energy sector to stimulate exploration and production, among a few other minor adjustments”.
He said the fiscal measures will focus on improving the well-being of every individual in the society so that they can reach their full potential, adding “we are investing in our people”.
Imbert, who has been finance minister since the ruling People’s National Movement (PNM) came to power in 2015, and is expected to face the electorate by August next year, said total expenditure has been pegged at TT$59.2 billion, with revenue at just over TT54 billion, resulting in a fiscal deficit of TT$5.197 billion
He told legislators that the fiscal deficit is estimated at 2.7 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) and that it is within the international benchmark of three per cent.
Imbert said that the government has long recognised that the changing dynamics of global energy markets with associated shifts in demand and supply balances for oil and gas generally create public policy dilemmas in the context of oil and gas revenue volatility.
(Details in Business section)
CMC/2024