Government’s withdrawal of $2.5 billion from the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund (HSF) is for financing of the services of T&T for the year 2016, Finance Minister Colm Imbert said in the Senate yesterday.
He was replying to questions from Opposition Senator Wade Mark on the withdrawal, but gave the answer in such a short form that Mark asked him to repeat with details. Imbert, however, said the same thing.
On what immediate measures are being taken to replenish the fund, Imbert said the HSF operates via its act. This states that every year an estimate is made of petroleum monies for that year based on the estimated price of oil and natural gas produced and exported. If the revenue exceeds the estimates, 60 per cent of surplus goes to the HSF. Imbert added that 40 per cent can be retained for government expenditure. To replenish any funds withdrawn, he said, Government would have to have excess petroleum revenue exceeding the estimates of such revenue for the fiscal year.
Meanwhile, the United Policy Holders’ Group, which had planned a protest outside Central Bank today, is now looking at Friday to stage it due to inclement weather which has occurred in recent days, UPG spokesman Angeli Gadjadhar said yesterday
The UPG is planning the protest over the Bank’s lack of response to a number of issues they have been querying. Gadjadhar said UPG had heard nothing from the Bank on its issues up to this week.
A new group called the Clico Stakeholders’ Alliance (CSA)—comprising people with interest in Clico and headed by David Walker—has also written the Central Bank querying its continued control of Clico although there are now changed circumstances. Although both the UPG and CSA also wrote Finance Minister Colm Imbert on their respective matters, Imbert referred those queries to the Central Bank, distancing his ministry from it.