Trinidad cabinet approval sought on bonds for CLICO policyholders
Thursday July 14 2011 | 03:42 AM

Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister of Finance Winston Dookeran on Wednesday indicated that he will soon seek Cabinet and parliamentary approvals to pay CLICO policyholders who hold balances over TT$75,000 in the form of twenty-year bonds.

He explained that the twenty-year bonds did not mean that one had to wait for 20 years to be paid, but in fact once bonds were issued, the bonds could be redeemed in the financial sector at a discounted rate. 

He said the ministry was working out the effective discounted rate, which should be applied without putting the country’s debt profile at risk.

Dookeran also announced that the tax amnesty that ended on June 30, 2011, was a success.

However, he pointed out that evidence suggested that VAT collection decreased as a result of a few companies not remitting what they would have collected. The minister made an appeal to accountants and auditors to bear this in mind and to strive for exceeding international benchmarks with their accounting practices. He encouraged the creation of new practices and new benchmarks to start right here in Trinidad and Tobago.

The minister also shared some thoughts on the need for a paradigm shift in the way things are done. He stressed on the need for the return to endogenous growth in Trinidad and Tobago, that is, the need to return to the fundamental concepts of:

• Growth and development
• Capital accumulation
• The issues of productivity and
• The need to make right choices.