T&T might allow public to buy into state companies: Dookeran

State-owned special purpose enterprise companies (SPECs) in Trinidad and Tobago could soon be more strictly regulated and the public could have an opportunity to buy shares in them.

Finance Minister Winston Dookeran made that statement Wednesday noting that such a change in companies such as UDeCOTT would be one of the ways to give the government what he called "wiggle room" to allow government to re-vitalise the stagnating economy.

“The state enterprise sector, including the special purpose companies, will be subject to new governance accountability and the adoption of a ‘business risk radar’ that anticipates threats, responds and adapts to effective investment that improves the performance of the enterprise,” Dookeran said at a luncheon hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Port-of-Spain.

“A wider restructuring exercise that incorporates public offerings and ownership is being contemplated.”

SPECs, which include Udecott, NIPDEC and NIDCO, currently manage at least $50 billion worth of public sector projects and also hold assets valued at millions of dollars.

Dookeran said the Government hopes to introduce a new system of “corporate governance for SPECs that will allow for them to become more transparent over time.” He also pledged the process of appointing new board members to the SPECs will “accelerate from now on.”

Dookeran also presented an unflattering picture of the state of the economy, noting that there has been a rapid deterioration in the fiscal position with a 50 per cent decrease in export earnings.

He said for the 2009/2010 fiscal year there will be a deficit of 4.1 per cent of GDP and flat economic growth. He predicted that the overall deficit is likely to widen as the share of energy revenue to GDP falls with debt rising to 48 per cent of GDP in 2010/2011.

However, he said there are ways to deal with then financial problems.

“There is still wiggle room for us to manage our economic prescription, to reverse the direction of our economic trends while building a competitive economy,” Dookeran said.

He noted that the local economy’s troubles were made worse "bad corporate governance and major regulatory lapses" that resulted in the near collapse of CL Financial and its subsidiaries including CLICO.

Dookeran also killed the idea of the Trinidad and Tobago International Financial Ccentre, which was to be housed in two 26-storey towers at Wrightson Road, Port of Spain. He said it was "an idea that never should have been born".

Read the story: Dookeran Axes Financial Centre