Energy Minister Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan says she does not expect any reduction in the gas subsidy or any hike in gas prices in next week's national budget to be presented by Finance Minister Winston Dookeran.
Seepersad-Bachan said so in an interview yesterday. Asked if citizens can expected a reduction in the gas subsidy during the budget presentation, Seepersad-Bachan said she cannot say what Dookeran would announce, but she has recommended that there should be no reduction in the subsidy or increase in the price of gas until there was a viable alternative effectively in place.
She said she has always maintained that there was a need to establish a proper Compressed Natural Gas network in T&T, and only when that was done can the subsidy be reduced. Seepersad-Bachan also said she did not expect any hike in the price of gas to be announced in the budget. She reiterated that while the previous Government had spoken about CNG as an alternative, nothing was done to seriously develop the industry over the past several years.
She said the Government was doing all it can to ensure that CNG was developed to ensure that there was an alternative so the need for gas would be reduced, and as a direct consequence, the subsidy will also come down . Former finance minister Karen Tesheira said last week that any move to reduce the $2 billion annual subsidy would spell disaster for the manufacturing and other sectors.
