Enill: New financial legislation in June

In an interview at the Eric Williams Financial Complex in Port-of-Spain, Enill said a team at the Ministry of Finance is currently working on this legislation and it should be brought before Cabinet within the next six weeks. The minister added that this was all inkeeping with Government’s promise to bring legislation to Parliament to formalise the Fund.

Revenue Stabilisation Funds currently exist in nations such as Venezuela, Kuwait, Norway, Oman and Chile. They are regarded as important instruments to save revenues from the key drivers of those nations’ economies for future development.

Enill recalled that in basing the 2005/2006 Budget on a comparative oil price of US$35 per barrel, Government decided that 60 percent of all of TT’s energy revenues would be placed into the Fund while the remaining 40 percent would be used for capital intensive projects. The Fund currently stands at approximately $4.54 billion.

Both Enill and Energy Minister Dr Lenny Saith said that international oil prices reaching record highs of US$72 per barrel were good news for TT in terms of greater energy revenues that could be used for national development. Enill explained that because Government subsidises domestic petroleum products, there would be no increase in domestic petroleum prices and citizens’ purchasing power would be protected from any global inflation which may be caused by high international oil prices.

Meanwhile, world oil prices reached new heights yesterday, trading at over US$74 per barrel in London and US$72 per barrel in New York due to low gasoline stocks in the United States and tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme. Rising global oil prices and related issues will be discussed at the seventh International Energy Forum which starts in Doha, Qatar tomorrow.