T&T | Trinidad and Tobago boasts ‘better than expected’ Fiscal Outturn for 2022

Trinidad and Tobago’s Finance Minister Colm Imbert says the fiscal outturn for 2022 is “better than expected” after receiving the final figures for the actual revenue collections up to the end of September 2022.

In a statement today the Ministry said at the time of the presentation of the 2023 Budget on September 26, 2022, the revenue figures for fiscal 2022 were based on actual figures from October 1, 2021, to August 31, 2022 and estimated figures for the month of September 2022.

However, the Ministry said the Board of Inland Revenue has since finalised the actual revenue figures for fiscal 2022 and it has been determined that the total revenue in fiscal 2022 was $54.21 billion, which is $2.57 billion more than the original revised estimate of $43.33 billion for fiscal 2022 which was made in October 2021.

With total expenditure for Fiscal 2022 now estimated at $54.54 Billion, the fiscal deficit for 2022 is now estimated at $329 million, which is less than 0.2% of GDP, well below the international benchmark for fiscal deficits of 3% of GDP. In essence, we have achieved an almost balanced national budget in Fiscal 2022, something that has not occurred in Trinidad and Tobago since 2008, 14 years ago. 

For the 2023 national budget, Finance Minister Colm Imbert projected a total revenue of $56.175B (Based on assumption of US$92.50 per barrel, US$6 MMBTU Oil Price). 

He also projected an expenditure of $57.685 billion and a deficit of $1.51 billion (0.8 per cent of GDP).