Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 19/Oct 17:15

Opposition MPs query budget figures, revenue streams

Opposition members say there are several inconsistencies, contradictions, and fudging of numbers they would have brought up during the 2025/2026 budget debate if government ministers had presented their plans instead of unexpectedly wrapping up the debate. Speaking at a PNM press conference at the Balisier House, Port of Spain, on October 18, Diego Martin North/East MP Colm Imbert said the budget revenue was inflated while the expenditure was understated. He pointed out that international agencies estimate the price of oil in 2026 to be between US$50-60 per barrel, while the government’s estimated oil price for the budget was $73.25, inflating revenue by at least $1 billion. In addition, annual debt service payments were $11-$13 billion, but the government allocated around $7 billion. “The problem with that is that debt servicing must be paid. It’s a charge on the public accounts. It has to be paid first...So that $5 billion they took out with creative accounting from the documents, they have to put it back in. “Now, when they put back in that $5 billion, they will either have to increase the deficit by borrowing another $5 billion to pay for that, or they will have to cut back on a lot of the things that they said they’re going to do in 2026. I expect the latter.” On the 45 per cent increase in National Insurance contributions, he said it was based on the 11th Actuarial Report, which was completed in 2020 during the covid19 pandemic, when businesses had closed down and many people had lost their jobs, so they could not contribute to the NIS. The report, he said, projected the National Insurance Fund would decline to $25 billion and the number of contributors would fall to 423,249 by 2024, and totally depleted by 2033 if the government did not do something drastic. However, the economy recovered in 2022 and, by 2024, the number of contributors was 488,256 and the fund stood at $28 billion. “If the Minister of Finance had looked at the actuarial reports of the National Insurance Board published in 2022, 2023, and 2024, he would have seen that the actuarial report was wrong. He would have seen all the estimates were wrong, all the projections were wrong, all the estimates of doom and gloom were wrong, and therefore there was absolutely no need to punish workers and small businesses by increasing NIS contributions.” He also questioned the estimated increase in revenue by raising taxes on alcohol by 100 per cent, saying it would not work, and the Finance Minister did not do his research. He recalled in 2017 that the PNM government increased taxes on alcohol by 20 per cent. It was projected that the government would collect roughly $1 billion in revenue, but instead, it collected less than $700 million, about $20 million less than the year before. “People only have so much disposable income, so if you keep increasing the price of alcohol exponentially, people will stop buying.” Arouca/Lopinot MP Marvin Gonzales, a former utilities minister, said the government did not allocate any money to the North West Water Improvement Programme, which refurbished and upgraded reservoirs, booster stations, water treatment plants, and pipelines, getting water regularly to over 350,000 citizens. He said, in addition to not allocating any funds to the programme, the government diverted resources from it to other parts of TT, jeopardising several other projects still to be completed. Gonzales also pointed out that the UNC campaigned on not raising electricity rates, yet it increased commercial and industrial rates. In addition, the government does not have the authority to increase water or electricity rates, as that was the purview of the Regulated Industries Commission (RIC), and there was a rigid process. And if the rates were raised, and the expected $396 million was raised from the increase, Gonzales questioned how that money could go to the consolidated fund when TTEC relied on state subventions, as it was already operating on a deficit and owed NGC around $6 billion. Giving several examples, Diego Martin Central MP Symon de Nobriga showed there were marked decreases in allocations to regional corporations in PNM-controlled areas, while UNC constituencies saw millions of dollars in increased allocations. Under recurring expenditures alone, PNM constituencies saw a combined decrease in allocation of $32 million, while UNC constituencies saw an increase of $70 million. He even went back to the 2016 budget documents to show there was more equity in the allocations for recurring expenditures and development programmes of both UNC and PNM areas when the PNM was in government. The cuts would affect road repairs, garbage collection, drain clearing, equipment procurement, and many other services. “This is a concerted effort to starve PNM corporations to ensure they can’t deliver on their mandate. And look out for how that plays out for the upcoming local government election. While politics are being played, people are suffering.” The post Opposition MPs query budget figures, revenue streams appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.