The Government’s revised estimate for payments of court judgments against the State has jumped to $140 million for fiscal 2026, almost $83.5 million more than the $56.5 million spent in 2025.
The figure was disclosed on Friday during the Standing Finance Committee’s examination of the Ministry of Finance’s allocations when Finance Minister Davendranath Tancoo was asked a question by Opposition Member of Parliament for Port of Spain North/St Ann’s West Stuart Young.
Young requested a detailed breakdown of the judgments covered by the $140 million provision, including the court matters, orders and amounts involved.
However, Tancoo agreed to provide the information in writing.
Questions from Diego Martin North East MP Colm Imbert were also raised about millions of dollars allocated but not spent on employment programmes, infrastructure and support for small businesses.
Imbert also noted that the original allocation for 2026 had been $57 million, but the revised estimate had increased to $140 million, while the provision for fiscal 2027 had been reduced to $70 million.
Tancoo explained that the amount required was difficult to estimate because of uncertainty surrounding future judgments.
The expenditure on costs awarded in High Court judgments was also examined, with Imbert noting that spending under that item had increased from $421,000 in 2025 to $15.4 million in the revised 2026 estimates, despite an original allocation of $700,000.
Tancoo said he would provide a breakdown of those payments as well.
Another significant area of questioning was the $36 million proposed for other contracted services under the Ministry of Finance’s Investments Division.
The revised estimate for that item in 2026 was $100,000, while actual expenditure in 2025 was $22,118.
Imbert challenged the ministry’s projection of expenditure running into tens of millions of dollars in fiscal 2027.
“You have gone from $100,000 to $34 million. How are you managing that?” he asked.
Tancoo said the allocation reflected efforts to advance the winding-up of State companies, some of which had remained on the books for decades.
“The reason for this explosion, as you describe it, is because several of these entities have remained on the books for decades,” he said.
He used BWIA West Indies Airways Ltd as one example of a company still to be wound up and identified CEPEP Company Ltd as a new entity in the process.
However, Tancoo acknowledged that consultants had not yet been shortlisted and their scopes of work had not been finalised.
Asked what the contracted services would cover beyond winding up companies, he identified “investigations, auditing, training”.
Unspent funds
Questions also arose on the absence of expenditure under a $475 million employment fund announced in the previous budget. Imbert said the fund had been presented as a means of creating employment, including for retrenched CEPEP workers, but recorded no expenditure during fiscal 2026.
Tancoo responded that the fund had been transferred to the ministries of Works and Transport, and Rural Development.
Imbert also questioned why the fund had remained unspent throughout the fiscal year, noting the Government had previously cited the need for legislation as a reason for the delay.
A $10 million allocation for small and micro-enterprise support also recorded zero expenditure in 2026.
Tancoo said the programme was being prepared for implementation in fiscal 2027.
“However, in fiscal 2027, all the requirements have been made so we can now ensure that small and micro enterprises will receive support,” he said.
The committee also examined the Infrastructure Development Fund, which had an original allocation of $1.4 billion in fiscal 2026. Expenditure was approximately $850 million, leaving about $553 million unspent.
Tancoo, however, attributed the shortfall to procurement difficulties.
“I highlighted this during the budget. I indicated that there were issues with procurement. And as a result of that, the spend was less than projected for fiscal 2026,” he said.
The Ministry of Finance has been allocated $5.27 billion for fiscal 2027.
