$934M Spent in Covid-19 Relief So Far in TT

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MINISTER of Finance Colm Imbert says that the Government of Trinidad and Tobago has thus far spent $934 million in the fight against Covid-19.

He said it is expected that $6 billion will be the total given the projections by the Finance Ministry.

Imbert revealed the figures at the virtual media conference of the Ministry of Health on Tuesday morning.

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He said the breakdown included:

  • Ministry of Social Development – $98.1m. Projected to be $400m by the end of September.
  • The Office of the Prime Minister has approved $10m to religious bodies to provide relief to the needy. Projected total to the end of September is $30m.
  • The Ministry of Agriculture has spent $1.3m to provide fresh produce. Projected total to the end of September is $10.7m.
  • Ministry of National Security has spent $3.7m on Covid-19 measures. Expected expenditure is $8.3m.
  • The Ministry of Health has spent $55m on Covid-19 measures. Imbert said this figure go reach up to $387m depending in what takes place with Covid-19 in TT.
  • Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government has received $3.9m for sanitisation and $10m for food support. Projected to spend $30m on food support and $16 in sanitisation.
  • Salary grants thus far has amounted to $12m. This is projected to reach to $490m
  • Caribbean Airlines which is earning no money will get $442 m (US$65m) secured government loan.
  • TTPS has spent $5m on personal protective equipment with a further $10m is projected.

Imbert said, “Regarding small and medium enterprises, that is in the final stages of a loan programme where the Government will subsidise the interest and provide some form of guarantee and we have allocated $300m for that.”

He said $700m in VAT refunds has already been paid out and bonds of $3billion should start this week.

Imbert said he has signed agreements as corporation sole with the umbrella bodies of credit unions and 20 credit unions to given them $100m for their membership “and this may be increased to deal with small business development within the credit union movement.”

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