An Update on Petrocaribe

Joseph Waight

Those tablets cost about one million U.S. and reliable word is that it was paid for with Petrocaribe monies. We haven’t heard much about Petrocaribe lately on the local scene, though we have heard that the initiative is running into trouble because of Venezuela’s economic woes. So today, we asked the Financial Secretary for an update on government coffers which were bulging with Petrocaribe money just months ago.

Joseph Waight, Financial Secretary

“The Petrocaribe is tenuous going forward. The price has fallen, the world oil price has fallen, and so the amount of money coming from Petrocaribe has also fallen. How much longer Petrocaribe will last we really don’t know, but we’re not planning that this will last for perpetuity.”

Reporter

“The last time we spoke to you it was around one hundred and sixty million. Could you give us an idea of what the figures are at this point?”

Joseph Waight

“It’s about two hundred and seventy million in total from Petrocaribe. And we have currently…we’ll give a statement in the House shortly…we have currently about a hundred and sixty million in the account.”

Reporter

“The understanding is that the repayment will begin this year. What will be the sum of it and how do we meet those payments?”

Joseph Waight

“For us out of general revenue. I think the payment is about three million dollars this coming year. It was a grace period that’s expired now and we’ve provided for it in the budget.”