LNG exporter Trinidad & Tobago cuts 2015 budget, citing low oil prices

By ALEEM KHAN
Bloomberg

Trinidad & Tobago will cut its $10.2 billion budget for this year as the tumble in energy prices hits the world’s sixth-biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The government faces a 7.4 billion Trinidad dollar ($1.2 billion) shortfall in revenue this year after oil prices fell by about half since June, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said in a nationally-televised address.

Some infrastructure projects will be canceled while other savings will come from lower gasoline subsidies, she said, without providing details.

“We shall navigate safely though these turbulent times,” Persad-Bissessar said.

The government had originally calculated its budget assuming an oil price of $80/bbl, more than the about $49/bbl price of crude today. 

The lower price means that Trinidad’s government estimates it will have a fiscal deficit of about $700 million, Persad-Bissessar said.

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