Peter D Neptune
November 20, 2009 – guardian.co.tt
She said that in total, from January 2007 to the end of March 2009, the state borrowed more than $8.8 billion. This includes nearly $3 billion from the domestic capital markets and more than $5.8 billion from international sources. Prior to the current fiscal period, the Central government borrowed three times through bond issues on February 2007 amounting to $674.3 million, in April 2007 another issue was made for $1.02 billion, and this was followed up by another bond issue of $1.2 billion in February 2008. The Minister said all three approaches on the local market was necessary for liquidity management and to control inflation in pursuit of the government’s management strategy for the local economy. External borrowings included 190 million British pounds (TT$2.008 billion), US$465 million (TT$2.953 billion), 17 million Australian dollars (TT$99 million) and Chinese RMB 800 million (TT$744 million). The total external borrowings in local currency from January 2007 to March 2009 was valued at TT$5.8 billion.
The external loans include 190 million British pounds as export credit guarantee for the purchase of two fast support and intervention vessels, three offshore patrol vessels as well as training and support packages for the purchase in April 2007.
Also in April 2007, government borrowed US$15 million and 17 million Australian dollars to purchase another six fast patrol crafts. Thirteen months later Government again approached the international markets in May 2008, to refinanced a US$150 million bond issue that was due for repayment. This was followed up one month later in June 2008, when government secured a Buyers Credit Loan for the construction of the Alutrint aluminium complex project. At that time another Chinese RMB 800 million loan was secured through a concessional rate facility with the Chinese government for the construction of Alutrint. Minister Tesheira said the interest rate on the funding ranged from a high of 8.25 per cent for domestic borrowings, to as low as 2 percent for the Chinese loan for Alutrint.
http://guardian.co.tt/business/business/2009/11/20/tt-borrowing-13b
Who Fooling WHO? Why all this spending when all is being done through borrowing- Are we that STUPID? Who paying back all this Debt? – 20/20 seems as a curse all the way.
I do not even have the Spirit to say any more, my Spirit is sick and my Soul is Dampened by People’s ignorance. What a strange time to be living in the Earth’s History.
After all are we Independent.
Only God can save us now.
I believe the debt to GDP ratio is approx. 34%, so there is no need to panic.With this GDP ratio T&T is better off than most countries, including some of the more developed.
Spending priorities however, is another topic.
Considering their priorities and the way everything they do has cost overruns , you must not fall into the trap of thinking that they are going to stop at this.
We are approaching a slippery slope, allowing outside interest to own a piece of our rock, soon our identity and ownership of our country will be lost . By changing the lavish live style of our public officials (servants) and lack of strict control of the publics assets by the Ministries would be adequate change to reverse the disastrous direction our economy is headed,our country has everything it needs for prosperity our problem is MANAGEMENT.
Wow! It looks as if Trinidad and Tobago has more in common with Jamaica than many of us thought. What’s worse is it wasn’t Jamaica’s fault (per se) for getting into debt with the World Bank. This is just foolishness. These leaders have to go before there is no more Sweet TNT! This is terrible!
http://www.newsday.co.tt/day/1,38883.html#foto
Not bad ,Trinidad, aka Baby America .Now repeat after me , “Give me your tired , your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breath free….!”
http://www.statueofliberty.org/default_sol.htm
I tell you what , you folks could hate this land of ours as much as you want ,but I choose to part company.
I don’t really care if the only reason we might have single digit unemployment rates is because most Trinis are running for the North American , and European borders in search for a better life.
http://www.indexmundi.com/trinidad_and_tobago/unemployment_rate.html
Of corse , I don’t mean that , but nevertheless I am going to defend it as the greatest country on earth until the end of time, just like the crazy ,poverty stricken ,egomaniacal Jamaicans usually do at every opportunity when it comes to Ram goat liver /‘mannish water’ land, or better yet compassionate Big brother Eurocentric America does while opening up the immigration gates for folks chiefly from Europe, and selective global quarters, while in her case,doing absolutely nothing for abused indigenous people, and former slave byproducts ,whose great grand parents gave so much freely in these United States , with so little to show by the ungrateful ,for past efforts.
As for Sweet T&T ,I say hooray to allowing unlimited immigrants in to share the vast economic spoils, and fine hospitality. How about another 50,000 Chinese construction workers, 5,000 British ex Scotland Yard blokes to magically apprehend kidnappers , 400 high end Canadian Mounties/military security specialist, 20,000 more Filipino / Cuban nurses, and minimum wage factory workers, 10,000 more Nigerian, and Cuban doctors for our deplorable health institutions that the PM and Opposition ‘won’t be caught dead in,’ even if you threaten to eat their kids alive, 75,000 more Guyanese Charlotte street vendors, and sugar cane / rice paddies workers , 100,000 more other desperate Caribbean and Leewards and Windward Island family workers ,to baby sit our kids, do cheap domestic work , and don’t forget at lease 20,000 more Columbians /Venezuelan mucho caliente senoritas -to what else-service our machismo Trini men and vastly improving tourist industry , and compete with the sexually liberated locally unemployed gals and guys from parts of Central ,South , Grande , and Diego Martin.
Did I leave out Tobago? Well,they are contended with the huge influx of lonely Londoners , Germans , Italians, Irish , and Scandinavian tourist entrepreneurs that are flooding the peaceful and neglected twin island , that PNM Deputy PM on paper ,Uncle London is proud of.