Radhica De Silva
Senior Multimedia Reporter
radhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt
UNC deputy political leader Dr Roodal Moonilal has accused the PNM administration of reckless borrowing to cover up a depleted Treasury, claiming the government is draining the country’s financial reserves.
Speaking at a campaign meeting at Vickar's carpark, Rochard Douglas Road, Barrackpore, in the marginal Moruga/Tableland constituency on Thursday night, Dr Moonilal alleged that the government has already borrowed half a billion dollars through First Citizens Bank and Scotiabank in less than a month.
“I have two of them. Save that date — March 20th. That’s almost a month ago,” Dr Moonilal said. “They went to Cabinet and approved an award of a mandate to First Citizens Bank to arrange and fully underwrite a fixed-rate loan on behalf of NIDCO — to fund infrastructure projects.”
“They borrowed $250 million from FCB,” he continued. “Apparently, that wasn’t enough. They topped it up... Scotiabank is now awarded another loan facility — this time not to NIDCO, but to NIPDEC — to finance infrastructure.”
Dr Moonilal questioned the urgency, saying, “What infrastructure are you going to build in two weeks? This second loan is to the tune of 250 million dollars. They’ve taken $500 million!”
He further questioned the rationale for the sudden borrowing.
“They ran down the Treasury — the Treasury has no money. They are now borrowing money just to keep money. They are borrowing money to keep money, because the Treasury has potholes," he quipped.
Turning to the country’s financial reserves, he accused the PNM of depleting the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund (HSF), which he said the former UNC administration had built up.
“When we came into power in 2010, the value of that Heritage and Stabilisation Fund was around TT$18 billion,” he said. “When we left in September 2015, that value had gone from $18 billion to almost $50 billion. We added that. That is what we put.”
“We left them with $56 billion in 2015. The data shows that clearly,” he added. “And today, in 2024, we don’t even have $25 billion.”
Dr Moonilal claimed that the former UNC-led Cabinet never touched the HSF.
“One thing about the Heritage Fund: we never touched it. In fact, I was in Cabinet for five years. We didn’t even know how to take money from it, because it was never in our minds to do so.”
He contrasted that with what he said were multiple PNM withdrawals.
“They took out: US$375 million, US$252 million, US$1 billion, US$892 million. They depleted the Treasury. They ran down the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund.”
Dr Moonilal also raised concerns about Prime Minister Stuart Young’s connection to Scotiabank.
“Scotiabank — sounds familiar? There’s some global finance group or something associated with Scotiabank — linked to Stuart Young, isn’t it? I think that’s a matter of fact. That is correct.”
He ended his speech by demanding transparency: “Where did the $500 million go that they borrowed three weeks ago? In whose pocket? Which contractor?”
Also addressing the meeting were UNC deputy Jearlene John, Senator Anil Roberts, and Moruga/Tableland candidate Michelle Benjamin.