SEVENTY-NINE per cent of businesses interviewed for an outlook survey by the American Chamber of Commerce of Trinidad and Tobago said they had no confidence there would be economic growth under the People’s National Movement (PNM), Finance Minister Davendranah Tancoo said.
Tancoo said a decade of PNM mismanagement had broken trust, stifled opportunity, and driven investments away.
He made the comments during his presentation of the mid-year budget review, which was presented in the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
“Net foreign exchange holdings have dropped by 50% under the PNM, from US$10.5 billion to US$5.3 billion today,” he said.
Tancoo said Trinidad and Tobago currently has “a mere 7.5 months of import cover. We have for an exchange to only last this country seven and a half months of imports”.
Under the previous administration, this nation endured “a decade of systematic failure” which included a record-high crime rate, a broken healthcare system and neglected schools”.
He said tens of thousands of elderly pensioners who have given their lives to build this country now have to choose between food and medicine, between life or death. By every social and economic indicator, the situation had deteriorated under the PNM.
Tancoo said it was not just the squandermania that the PNM engaged in, it also attacked and undermined every institution on which the country depends.
He said it also sabotaged the Board of Inland Revenue, compromising its ability to pursue tax evaders effectively and allowing big businesses to pocket $10 billion illegally every year.
“They (the PNM government) knew who the tax evaders were and they did nothing…because those engaged in cheating the tax system are their friends, family and financiers,” Tancoo said.
He said rather than pursuing these tax dodgers, Imbert imposed more taxes on compliant citizens.
He said over $5 billion in contracts were awarded by the State to friends, family and financiers of the PNM, as that government gutted the procurement legislation meant to eliminate the potential for corruption in public spending.
Tancoo said that over $30 billion of expenditure could not be verified, according to the Auditor General’s report.
“That’s half of the annual expenditure of this country. That is alarming. And that is why they were so intent on not releasing all of the Auditor General report. I hope that the member for Diego Martin North East will eventually tell the country the truth about this unholy scandal. Because I may have to tell it,” Tancoo said.
He said the Government expected to see an even greater feeding frenzy of corruption when the 2025 Auditor General’s report is released.
“Today, I want to tell the population, despite everything that they have done, be not afraid…. The road may be long and winding, and the task before us may be hard. But as certain as the day follows the night, the sun will rise again, and our country will be basking in the sunshine again,” Tancoo said.