The Trinidad and Tobago government says it will not enter into any structural adjustment programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) but defended its decision to have advisors from the IMF and the World Bank assist it deal with reviving the economy of the oil-rich twin island republic.
Finance Minister Colm Imbert, speaking in Parliament on Monday, said “we are not in any standby arrangement and under this PNM (People’s National Movement) administration, under the leadership of Dr Keith Christopher Rowley, there will be no standby arrangement with the IMF”.
Opposition legislators have criticised the eight-month-old government of seeking to hoodwink the population and enter into an agreement with the Washington-based financial institution as the country deals with a significant decline in revenue as a result of the drop in oil prices on the world market.
