Government has made an oral complaint to Moody’s regarding the recent downgrade rating given to T&T, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has said. She made the statement in response to questions from Independent Liberal Party (ILP) MP Jack Warner during yesterday’s Parliament sitting. Finance Minister Larry Howai had expressed T&T’s concern on the issue to Moody’s already, the PM said, but there had not been a written complaint.
She said Government, as Howai had indicated, would be balancing the budget and eliminating debt positions following Moody’s downgrade. Persad-Bissessar said she did not expect any increased costs from the downgrade, adding the BAA2 rating Moody’s had given T&T was still an investment grade which many countries did not have.
She said she did not expect an economic collapse and Government was working towards cutting deficits. “The sky will not fall tomorrow. We are working on this,” the PM said, noting that T&T had also received downgrades in 2007 and 2009 under the People’s National Movement (PNM) administration. She noted Government had inherited a Petrotrin debt, which began in 2007 and 2009 with huge financial issues for the failed gas to liquids project.
On queries from Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley, she said Government had a debt management strategy and also had a medium-term fiscal framework, both of which have been given to Moody’s. When Rowley alluded to her “cavalier, casual, nonchalant” attitude on the issue, she accused him of being arrogant in his manner and unpatriotic.
On the Chaguaramas causeway project, she said a preliminary study was done in 2008 with a ballpark estimated cost for the project of TT$6 billion to $8 billion. She said in 2014 Nidco, working with Carrytrans, examined a more efficient way and that estimated cost was $2 billion but no feasibility study had been done.
On Warner’s query about possible preferential treatment for three temporary Government Senators named in the auditor general’s report who also received professional fees of $1.9 million, Persad-Bissessar said attorneys who did state work were selected by the Attorney General’s office and temporary senators by the PM’s office.
She said attorneys were chosen on competence in litigation and it had not been unusual, since it had also been the practice under the PNM where people who were senators their firms had received legal briefs. On whether that violated the Integrity law, she said she was not of that view and Warner “knew what to do” if he had a concern.
Persad-Bissessar also said Government expected receipt of the first of the 12 coastal patrols vessel by the end of this month and was negotiating for funding for a Chinese vessel which would also facilitate training of Coast Guard personnel. The Central Statistical Office (CSO) has been producing data on inflation, trade and other issues and labour data would be up to date in June, she pointed out. She noted the CSO’s data had also been the basis on which the PNM’s Vision 2020 was done.