By Chantalé Fletcher
OPPOSITION MP Davendranath Tancoo says Minister of Finance Colm Imbert has been gaslighting the population from 2015 to now.
“The economy was growing consistently, employment was high and growing, there was development throughout Trinidad and Tobago,” he said.
Speaking at an Opposition’s press conference on Thursday, Tancoo recalled Imbert’s repeated claims at PNM public meeting on Tuesday night that the country was running on fumes based on an overdraft value of $33.4 billion in 2015.
Tancoo said, “This information is known to the minister but he was gaslighting the population to believe that the sky had fallen when the truth was that he met a country that was growing on the basis of sound macroeconomic management.”
He added that when Imbert assumed office in 2015, there was US $9.9 billion in foreign reserves which were 11.2 months of import coverage.
Tancoo said, “Today the foreign reserve holdings are US$6.65 billion or only 8.1 months import coverage. If T&T was running on fumes in 2015, then what are we running on today with $3.3 billion less in reserves?”
He also demanded Imbert to state how the US$9 plus billion in foreign reserves were spent.
Tancoo said, “Since he has become minister, the only people who have benefitted are Imbert, friends, family and political finances.”
He said under Imbert 99% of the people are poorer today than in 2015.
Tancoo added that Imbert boasted that he increased the value of food cards from $700 to $800 for a family with seven or eight persons in need.
He said, “That works out to be an increase of 40 cents per person per day and that is what he wants citizens to applaud.”
Tancoo said Imbert also boasted about increasing public assistance by $1.20 per day, per person for a family living in poverty with more than four persons, and a $3 rebate per day for persons with electricity bills paid $300 or less.
In addition, Imbert talked about reducing VAT as an accomplishment but neglected to say that thousands of food items previously VAT free were now subject to 12.5% VAT, Tancoo said.
He said, “So that people, including these very same poor people, were now paying more for food, and more for less food.”
Tancoo said, “The scraps the Minister threw to the middle class and the poor were taken back almost immediately when he raised the cost of transport, increased a series of taxes, introduced new ones, and severely limited access to foreign exchange except for a select few.”
He added, “After seven years of PNM Governance and over $300 billion spent, the minister of finance expects that these minuscule scraps are all that the citizens of this country deserve.”
