Public cautiously optimistic after budget

Davendranath Tancoo -

AFTER the announcement of a $59.232b expenditure budget for fiscal 2025/2026, Newsday took to the streets of Port-of-Spain, asking the public their views on October 13.

Mickey Matthews, 75, was wary of some of the perceived budget gifts.

Referring to Finance Minister Davendranath Tancoo's presentation in Parliament earlier, Matthews said, “What struck me is that in his pre-budget statement, he (Tancoo) said he did not know the economy was in such dire straits, but to my mind, he delivered a budget as if the economy wasn’t in any state.

"The government seems to have extended on the promises they made that won them the election, but my fear is that there is a trick at hand.

“And that may be in the price they put for a barrel of oil, they estimated very high, as if we’re in an oil boom.

Finance Minister Davendranath Tancoo announced a planned expenditure of $59.232 billion against an oil price of US$73.25 a barrel and a gas price of US $4.35 per mmbtu.

Currently, oil prices are around US$60 a barrel for WTI crude and US$63.50 for Brent crude. Natural gas prices are currently US$3.09 per mmbtu.

"And they’re aiming to proceed with all these promises, hoping that the oil prices are realised as high as they put it," Matthews told Newsday.

"And if the (high) prices don’t (materialise) they’ll have to borrow.”

Matthews also said he was not confident that the government’s idea of diversification could work.

“We’ve been doing that for many years, we were sugar and cocoa when we discovered oil and gas, we thought that was diversification. But that’s not going to work…

"We need to build a real economy here. We need campaigns that speak the truth. We need elections that discuss the problems of the country, frankly and fairly. We can’t pretend.

Still, Matthews wished the government well and added that citizens needed to take individual responsibility for the country as well.

“Taking care of the country is not just about Kamla or Rowley. It’s us as well. You don’t need a job for that, you don’t need a title for that. It’s our country.”

Commenting on the allocations, Arima resident Pauline said she thought National Security should have received a higher allocation than the announced $6.366 billion.

The National Security allocation was the third highest, with Education and Training the highest allocation of $8.766 billion, followed by $8.214 billion allocated to Health.

“I don’t think that money was enough, because right now, prison facilities are in a mess, there aren’t enough officers, there are more prisoners than prison officers. The police too, they always need vehicles and officers.”

She also said she would like to see some restructuring to the protective services system to weed out corruption and encourage a better relationship between officers and citizens.

Pauline said she was more satisfied with the allocation for health and was pleased by the recent adjustments to the Chronic Disease Assistance Programme (CDAP) which introduced drugs for people with heart problems, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, depression, and other issues.

Overall, she said the budget reflected the state of the country.

“We are in debt, and the government is trying to manage it how they can. So some will get and some will suffer.”

Kenisha, 36, from San Juan also expressed some optimism about the allocation for health and hoped it would address the current problems.

“Everything has to be worked, everything. They need to provide more beds, they need to provide proper medications, they need to have the facilities properly cleaned. Everything else needs to be upgraded too much, it’s like things are still back in 1989.

She said the burden of those problems fell the heaviest on those who could not afford private healthcare, citing issues such as long wait times and delays in procedures that see people’s conditions getting worse.

“I think they need to upgrade the system, because come on, we are paying our taxes, we are working every single day to get these benefits but still have to pay even more to go privately.

"It's not just about money. Yes, money is being allocated, but what is it doing, where is it going?”

Although not a supporter of the UNC, 40-year-old Keion Amoroso said he was pleased with some of the budget's outcomes like the $1 reduction on super gas and the removal of VAT on certain food items.

​"She did something good for the country, but I think all of that should've been done in 2010."