Less for Caricom neighbours - Howai

September 05, 2012:

Trinidad and Tobago will be unable to assist its Caricom neighbours as it did in years gone by. Minister of Finance and the Economy Larry Howai made the statement at a media conference held after the two-day International Monetary Fund and the Caribbean Development Bank forum on Re-thinking Policy to Address Low Growth and High Debt in the Caribbean. This was held at the Hyatt Regency.

"It is probably unlikely that we would be able to maintain the levels of contributions to the (Caricom Petroleum) Fund that we were able to make in the past."

He added that the contributions to the Fund would be dependent on the international price of oil and this country's fiscal surpluses which in the light of the current global financial crisis and this country facing its own financial challenges certainly would be less than in previous years.

Howai, who will be reading his first national budget in the next month, said, "All the programmes we currently have will have be reviewed in the context of the current situation that exists."