Govt must not spend energy $$ on their ‘whims and fancy’

ST JOSEPH Member of Parliament Gerald Yetming has declared that expenditure of millions of dollars derived from the energy sector and now filling Trinidad and Tobago’s coffers, must not be left to the whims and fancy of any Government. Accordingly, the former Finance Minister said the Opposition UNC is eagerly waiting on Government to bring legislation to establish a Heritage and Stabilisation Fund to Parliament. Addressing the 2005 TT Petroleum Conference at the Hilton Trinidad on Wednesday, Junior Finance Minister Conrad Enill said this new legislation will “raise the standard of understanding, transparency and accountability on the use of our national petroleum wealth.”

The minister explained that the Interim Revenue Stabilisation Fund could be vulnerable in its current form and the proposed Heritage and Stabilisation Fund legislation would ensure that Parliament has oversight of the fund’s management. Annual reports on the fund’s management would be laid in Parliament. Under the proposed legislation, the Central Bank will manage the fund assets and these funds would be invested offshore. Yetming told Newsday that the Opposition hoped the legislation would outline a “precise formula” to govern how monies are placed into, managed within, and taken out of the fund. The UNC parliamentarian said he had no problem with the principle outlined by Enill that 60 percent of the fund would be used for stabilisation issues, 20 percent for strategic investments and 20 percent for inter-generational equity.

However, Yetming said he was interested to see what the legislation would define as strategic investments. Asked if the UNC was developing such legislation during their time in office, Yetming said legislation was being drafted to deal with the stabilisation side of things, but global developments had swung the pendulum in the direction of heritage funds. He added that the Central Bank held a conference on heritage funds recently and based on that conference (and its own research), Government is now developing Heritage and Stabilisation Fund legislation.

On Enill’s announcement that by June, Government will bring legislation to establish separate tax regimes for oil and natural gas, Yetming said talk of this legislation had been in the pipeline for some time and Government took everyone by surprise when it first raised this issue during the 2003/2004 Budget debate in the House of Representatives. He said the Opposition has repeatedly criticised Government for moving too slowly on oil/gas tax legislation but will wait to see what manifestation it takes when it comes to Parliament. Enill said resources in the Interim Revenue Stabilisation Fund totalled US$441 million as of September 30, and “on the basis of our current estimates, resources in the fund including interest and earnings would amount to US$688 million by September 30 this year.”