Aerial view of port-of-Spain- Trinidad - 123RF

Divestment of state assets should be considered by the government in the upcoming budget as a means to address its debt burden according to economist Dr Vaalmikki Arjoon. Dr Arjoon said, “The government inherited a very precarious situation with a debt burden that is over $144 billion, a significant overdraft in the Consolidated Fund of over $46 billion, and foreign reserves totalling US$4.8 billion in July, which is now lower than the country’s external debt by about $700 million.”