WHAT new economic measures will Government bring to help people whose livelihoods continue to be adversely affected by the covid19 pandemic?

At a news conference at the Diplomatic Centre on May 7, the Prime Minister said Finance Minister Colm Imbert will provide those details on Monday. At a briefing on May 3, Dr Rowley said a sum between $40 million - $50million is being finalised to assist those impacted by the latest covid19 restrictions.

Last May, Imbert said Government was projecting a total expenditure of $6 billion on covid19 relief and other needs between then and September. At that time, he said $934 million had been spent to date on covid19 relief.

Former government ministers Winston Dookeran and Vasant Bharath, members of the Roadmap to Recovery Committee established last year to develop strategies to deal with economic fallout from the pandemic, gave their views on Saturday about what kind of relief measures could be considered by Government.

Dookeran said, "On funding covid19, there are three components, support for economic activity and the vaccination programme."

He said, "The public policy response to sustain economic and social life is to lower interest rates and make payouts to groups in the society that are affected by the loss of income." On the vaccination programme, Dookeran continued, "So far, there is reliance on donors and the Covax facility of the WHO.

"The additional expenditure to adjust and keep the health care system function came from the Consolidated Fund, via additional borrowing and a drawdown of the Heritage and Stabilization Fund (HSF)."

Dookeran explained an approach is needed that opens the door to external funding support.

"We must hold discussions with the IMF (International Monetary Fund) to access the additional support windows now available through the Special Drawing Rights , for which TT qualifies for access.

"This will also assist in accessing covid19 funding via the IFI’s (International Financing Institutions)."

[caption id="attachment_888924" align="alignnone" width="797"] Winston Dookeran -[/caption]

An article published this month by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies identified the IMF, World Bank and major regional development banks among the IFIs. The centre estimated that IFIs have approved $262.4 billion in covid19-related support through the first quarter of this year.

Bharath said, "Time to put aside the politics of divisiveness and rise to the challenge of putting country first."

While he argued the vaccination programme could have been better handled, Bharath observed, "We are, however, dealing with an invisible enemy of enormous scale, overwhelming speed and with the capacity to morph almost instantaneously and clearly there is no blueprint for action."

He added, "We are where we are and no amount of criticism or opposing for the sake of it will help."

"Although the number-one priority must still remain the preservation of life, the Government must also place significant focus on maintaining livelihoods and p