Enill: High oil prices good for TT

And he assures there will be no increase in domestic petroleum prices and citizens’ purchasing power will be protected.

International oil prices reached US$72 per barrel yesterday, with analysts stating that these are the highest levels in recent times. In an interview at the Eric Williams Financial Complex yesterday, Enill said this scenario means there will be more money in the State’s coffers for development.

Recalling that the 2005/2006 Budget was based on a comparative oil price of US$35 per barrel, the minister said the Government had decided that 60 percent of all energy revenues would be placed into the Revenue Stabilisation Fund while the remaining 40 percent would be placed into capital intensive projects. Enill said while the Government could decide to increase its expenditure, no decision will be taken until the mid-year financial review is completed in May. However, he added that the Government may choose not to increase its current levels of expenditure.

Explaining that the downside to high oil prices was global inflation in the international market on all goods and services with an energy component, Enill said TT was fortunate, since the Government continued to subsidise all petroleum products. He explained that because of this, there will be no increases in domestic petroleum prices and additional financial resources will be used to keep citizens’ cost of living down.

Using food as an example, Enill revealed that he met yesterday with officials at the Ministry of Agriculture and was informed that they had identified certain local food commodities whose prices had been dramatically reduced over the last year. However Enill stressed that he was not advising the population to swing one way or another in choosing to purchase local or foreign goods.