Trinidad and Tobago: Imbert Seeks $10Bn Rise in Borrowing Limit

• The government of Trinidad and Tobago is seeking to strengthen the country's financial buffers by $10 billion in the event of unforeseen economic developments. This was the rationale advanced by Finance Minister Colm Imbert as he piloted a motion to amend the Development Loans Act to increase the statutory limit of borrowing under this act by $10Bn from $65Bn to $75Bn.
• Speaking in the House of Representatives, at the Red House, Port of Spain, Friday (March 15, 2024), Imbert noted that since the Development Loans Act came into force in 1964, there have been several increases in the limit, with the last two increases in 2020 and 2021 done to counter the effects of the Covid19 pandemic and the consequential collapse in commodity prices.
• Imbert explained that the Government's current 'remaining headroom' under the Development Loans Act is just $2.5Bn as a result of the borrowings done under the pandemic.
• Given T&T’s potential vulnerability to the current tenuous geopolitical dynamics, the Government must maintain a level of flexibility that will allow it to quickly counter the effects of revenue contraction or unforeseen expenditure demands. This will mean maintaining a reasonable borrowing capacity. Accordingly, it will not be practical for this Government to have access to a maximum of only two and a half billion TT dollars, Imbert said.
• The minister stressed, however, that the increase in the limit would not imply an immediate increase in government spending as the government is only permitted to spend what has been appropriated in this year's budget.
• The proposed increase, therefore, is primarily due to the limited excess capacity that the government has and would give the Government sufficient room and flexibility to meet its current and emergent financing needs in the medium term. 

 (Source: Trinidad Express Newspaper)