Category Archives: Finance

corruption, Finance, General T&T, Media, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics

Bacchanalian Budget Debate

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
October 25, 2011

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeIt’s either I am crazy or the Prime Minister is going mad. She stands up in Parliament and maligns her citizens. When she is confronted she refuses to accept responsibilities for her actions. Defenseless citizens are left at her mercy. Then, the press either defends them or maligns them further. In a good season, the press may then point out that a mistake has been made and call upon the authorities to rectify it.
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corruption, Finance, General T&T, India, Media, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, Racism Watch

Joan Yuille-Williams on Scholarship Fund

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Following is Joan Yuille-Williams’ full statement:

Joan Yuille-WilliamsAs the former minister of community development, culture and gender affairs with the responsibility for the Financial Assistance Fund which is now the subject of salacious, misguided and uninformed comment, I wish to state the following fundamental facts for the general public’s information, even as I pursue my option for robust legal action to assert the truth unequivocally:
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Complaints, corruption, Court, Crime in T&T, Culture, Finance, General T&T, India, Integrity Commission, Law, Media, Opposition Party, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, Racism Watch, UNC

PNM SCANDALS

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Budget presentation in Parliament at the Waterfront Complex, Port of Spain - October 10, 2011
Budget presentation in Parliament at the Waterfront Complex, Port of Spain - October 10, 2011

By Clint Chan Tack
October 18 2011 – newsday.co.tt

PRIME MINISTER Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday dropped several bombshells in the House of Representatives, exposing what she described as major corruption scandals which took place under the former People’s National Movement (PNM) government.
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Finance, General T&T, Labour, Opposition Party, Parliament, People's Partnership, Politics

Budget for fiscal year 2011-2012

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Budget presentation in Parliament at the Waterfront Complex

Budget Statement 2012
Finance Minister Winston Dookeran presented the National Budget for the fiscal year 2011-2012, in Parliament, at the Waterfront Complex, in Port of Spain, this afternoon. Below is the full text of the budget speech:
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Business, Finance, General T&T, Politics

Budget must reverse economic decline

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By Raffique Shah
October 09, 2011

Raffique ShahFOR the first time in many years, I am worried about the state of this country’s economy. I am not among alarmists who see doomsday whenever the price of oil dips by a dollar. To the contrary, in the wake of global financial crises of 200-08, when commodity prices tumbled, I didn’t even blink. Now, however, I’m wincing.
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Finance, General T&T, International, Law, Politics

Scandalous Wheeling and Dealing at CL Financial

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Most shocking

Newsday Editorial
September 21, 2011 – newsday.co.tt

Lawrence Duprey and Andre MonteilScandalous is the word for revelations about the behind the scenes wheeling and dealing at CL Financial, the cooking of the books, the hiring of a convicted felon to serve as the group’s global representative and other dubious deals geared toward fulfilling one, single-minded objective: the establishment of a global empire.
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China, Finance, General T&T, International, Law, People's Partnership, Politics, Tourism

China Offers Caribbean $6 Billion in Loans

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Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar (rear left) and Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan (rear right) attend a signing ceremony for an intergovernmental agreement between the two countries at the Diplomatic Centre in St. Ann's Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, on Monday, September 12, 2011.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar (rear left) and Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan (rear right) attend a signing ceremony for an intergovernmental agreement between the two countries at the Diplomatic Centre in St. Ann’s Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, on Monday, September 12, 2011.
Click here for more photos

$6B for region

By Andre Bagoo
September 13, 2011 – newsday.co.tt

IN A BOLD declaration of his country’s bold ambitions for the Caribbean region, China’s Vice Premier Wang Qishan yesterday unveiled a suite of measures including a $6.3 billion loan to regional governments, aimed at deepening cooperation between the People’s Republic and the Caribbean.
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Finance, General T&T, Labour, Politics

Confusing ‘Dookonomics’

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By Raffique Shah
August 21, 2011

Raffique ShahMinister Winston Dookeran confuses me. He insists that the Budget deficit for fiscal 2010-2011 remains at around $8 billion, as he projected last year. Yet, he admits that Government collected $2 billion in unanticipated revenue from delinquent taxpayers who responded to the tax amnesty. He also admits that oil prices have been higher than budgeted, and prices of other downstream commodities (methanol, ammonia) have been buoyant.
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Business, England, Finance, General T&T, International, Politics, USA

Slash subsidies, prioritise spending

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By Raffique Shah
August 14, 2011

Raffique ShahA WEEK sometimes feels like eternity in today’s fast-paced world. When I wrote last week’s column—”Jam Them!”—for which I received lots of jamming, Standard and Poor’s downgrading of America’s credit rating, and the almost instant global fallout, had not yet happened.

How was I to know that parts of London and other cities in England would erupt into mayhem?
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Finance, General T&T, Labour, People's Partnership, PNM

Jam them!

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By Raffique Shah
August 07, 2011

Raffique ShahTHE trade unions and government have both contributed to messy state of industrial relations that hovers over us all at a time when we should be focussed on climbing out of the economic mess we remain mired in. Gun talk, rather than constructive dialogue, drives the tension to unbearable levels.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad -Bissessar is reported as having told union leaders, when she terminated a meeting with them, “Bring on the national strike!” (or words to that effect). And Ancel Roget, offering little hope of a negotiated settlement, warned the population, “Stock up on candles!”
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