Opposition Senator Dr Lester Henry is questioning whether Finance Minister Winston Dookeran is engaging in a "sinister" move against the Central Bank.
Henry raised the issue during his contribution to yesterday's Senate debate on the 2010/2011 national budget. He said that question was being raised because of moves to establish an Investment Risk Committee. Henry said the former Central Bank Governor should be aware the Central Bank was responsible for investment risk management in T&T. He wanted to know why Dookeran had to set up "a parallel entity to tell yourself as minister of potential risk in the financial system."
He continued: "How will this look to the international community, the IMF, to the World Bank, and the same people that you plan to borrow money from?" Henry said under the astute leadership of the current Central Bank Governor, Ewart Williams "we have been able to weather the financial crisis with relatively modest dislocation." He said the move was dangerous. He asked: "Is the minister carrying out some kind of personal vendetta by creating this potentially destabilising (committee) that could raise the possibility of the Government being at odds with the Central Bank?" He said such a move could never build confidence in T&T.
Henry also told Dookeran his plan to resolve the Clico crisis may be illegal. He said the Central Bank Act provided for it to be in control of the operations of institutions after and intervention. Henry also displayed another Sunday Guardian article which had as its headline "Stabbed in the back", a reference to criticisms by Clico depositors on the Dookeran proposal as contained in the budget.
He also predicted that T&T would return to the multi-lateral lending agencies based on the 2010/11 national budget. "And that raises the spectre of austerity programmes and so on when you go back along that route," he added. He said T&T would not benefit from significant foreign exchange which would have resulted from the proposed aluminium smelter plant at La Brea. The People's Partnership Government had agreed to scrap the project.