Business
Falling oil prices force Trinidad & Tobago to reduce 2015 budget
Trinidad & Tobago will cut its US$10.2 billion budget for this year as the drop in oil prices hits the world’s sixth-biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas.
The government faces a TT$7.4 billion (US$1.2 billion) shortfall in revenue this year after oil prices fell by about half since June, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said in a nationally-televised address. Some infrastructure projects will be canceled while other savings will come from lower gasoline subsidies, she said, without providing details.
“We shall navigate safely though these turbulent times,” Persad-Bissessar said.
The government had originally calculated its budget assuming an oil price of US$80 per barrel, more than the about US$49 per barrel price of crude today. The lower price means that Trinidad & Tobago’s government estimates it will have a fiscal deficit of about US$700 million, Persad-Bissessar said.
Source: Bloomberg Businessweek