FINANCE Minister Colm Imbert delivered an upbeat budget 2024 on Monday in the House of Representatives, on a theme of moving from recovery to growth, in which he made generous provision for the disadvantaged, gave tax breaks to companies to boost innovation, and sought to secure the society's safety overall.
The minister proposed to earn $54 billion and spend $59 billion, for a $5 billion deficit. Imbert's budget was predicated on oil at $85 per barrel (WTI) and natural gas at US$5MMBtu.
For the disadvantaged, he promised a $20.50 minimum wage, a means-tested $1,000 schoolbook grant, a $4,000 grant to some public service retirees, plus the provision of accommodation to the most vulnerable in society.
Imbert did not touch the existing $7,500 personal tax break nor address food prices, in the light of food-price inflation down to four per cent from 17 per cent late last year.
He gave tax breaks for aspects of oil/gas exploitation (small company, shallow-water exploration), exporters and companies investing in cybersecurity.
He kept gasoline prices at current levels even as he anticipated giving a $1 billion subsidy in 2024. Imbert said the property tax will be introduced next year.
Regarding the pressing question of law and order, he promised to recruit 1,000 new police officers next year instead of the usual 300. The police will get an extra $80 million for vehicles and equipment plus $15 million for a police riverine unit in Carenage. He announced $90 million to buy four scanners for TT's ports, plus $4.5 million to buy 16 hand-held scanners.
He promised more consultations on actuarial recommendations to defer the retirement age from 60 to 65 to narrow the gap between contributions and claims on the National Insurance Board (NIB) pension fund.
He gave the background for justifying titling his budget Building Capacity for Diversification and Growth.
'I am pleased to confirm that economic activity rebounded in TT in 2022, under the influence of favourable terms of trade.'
After contracting by one per cent in 2021, which was actually an improvement on the contraction in 2020 due to covid19, the economy grew by 1.5 per cent in 2022. Growth continued in early 2023 at three per cent.
'Significantly and from a diversification perspective, economic growth was driven by a buoyant non-energy sector, which expanded by 5.8 per cent in 2022.'
While prices were raised by global supply-chain problems and by local flooding affecting food crops, he said TT had got a grip on inflation, now at four per cent.
'The financial system is sound, with adequate and appropriate capital, liquidity and profitability levels.'
Boasting of TT's creditworthiness, he said its reputation was reflected by its recent half-billion-dollar bond being oversubscribed by three times.
'For the first time in more than ten years, we recorded a fiscal surplus in 2022 - 0.6 per cent of GDP.'
He advocated 'preserving support for the most vulnerable and protecting essential capital spending.
'We firmly b
