Trinidad Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Rowley, says his administration will not be approaching the International Monetary Fund (IMF), despite billions of dollars in lost revenue over the last few years.

Rowley was addressing the forum “Spotlight on Trinidad and Tobago’s Financial Circumstances – the Road Ahead” yesterday. The forum was held ahead of the 2017/2018 budget that will be presented by finance minister Colm Imbert in Parliament on October 2.

The prime minister also said the country would not be revisiting measures used in the 1990s to control foreign exchange.

In this period of significant decline in foreign exchange inflows, it will be unreasonable and dangerous to use up our foreign exchange as we were accustomed to. This would be paving our way into the arms of the IMF and that is something that government is not prepared to do”, Rowley said.

Concerning the energy sector, in the twin island republic, the prime minister revealed a decline in revenue of 90 per cent between 2014 and 2017.

He added that due to the massive drop in revenue, the public sector could suffer the consequences.

According to Rowley, the government will be taken steps to tighten its revenue collection mechanism. He said faced with a possible deficit in 2018, further cuts in expenditure will be unavoidable and urged the population to be patient.

Taiwan National Day Celebration

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here