12-09-04 Prime Minister Patrick Manning is expected to announce that for the fiscal year 2003/2004 Trinidad and Tobago's economy grew by a whopping 12.5 %, according to Minister in the Ministry of Finance Conrad Enill. Enill said the huge growth rate was computed in the rebased figures which takes into consideration the contribution of the gas sector.
He said that "the twelve and a half per cent was arrived at when we rebased the figures and it is a procedure which was recommended by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and more truly reflect what is happening in the economy."

Enill explained that the growth was driven by the energy sector which saw record oil prices coupled with high prices for natural gas and commodities buoyed by strong global demand. He said there were also gains in other sectors of the economy particularly the construction sector which has received a major boost from government's housing programme.
Enill also said Government was forecasting a 6 % growth for the 2004/2005 year and that growth was based on a modest crude price of $ 25 a barrel. He said the country had done well the last fiscal year and promised to reveal the extent of additional revenue the country earned from the high prices.

The minister told that he was not seeking to hide the figures from the country by consistently saying he did not know if there will be a major surplus or the extent of the additional revenue the country could expect from record oil prices.
He said "it appears that many people do not understand how the process works and so they will think it is a simple process but it is not. You have to take into account several factors including production, capital and operating expenditure claims."
"I am not seeking to hide the figures, nor am I pretending not to have a real sense how they look. After all I get the figures on a daily basis so I know them, but I have asked my people to check on things and to ensure that what we are getting here is absolutely accurate because it is not always absolutely correct and I do not wish to speak out of turn and give the wrong figures," he added.

Enill said suggestions that the Government has been spending wildly is simply not true since it will not even spend what it budgeted for during the 2003/2004 fiscal year.
"I can tell you today that by the end of the fiscal year we will not spend all the money we budgeted for. There will be a major shortfall in expenditure, so it is ridiculous to suggest we have been spending wildly," he said.
"From the time oil prices increased significantly I promised that there will be no wild spending and I have kept faith with that."

Earlier, it was reported that Government's capital programme had stumbled because of structural issues and a shortage of project managers resulting in several projects not getting off the ground and the money being kept back.
Enill said that while oil prices were high, natural gas prices were also above budget and so to were the prices for commodities including methanol and ammonia. He explained that "when we talk about additional revenue all that has to be taken into account so it is not just oil and I am simply trying to get all the figures correct before I present them. I will give them to the population in time."

Government based its 2003/2004 budget on an oil export price of $ 25 a barrel.
Crude oil prices have averaged more than 50 % higher than those budgeted.