PM Browne says he is hopeful of US$60m CLICO repayment following cordial talks with PM Persad-Bissessar

Prime Minister Gaston Browne has told Trinidad Media that he has held cordial talks with Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar on Tuesday evening and is hopeful that Trinidad and Tobago will honour the remaining US$60 million owed to Antigua and Barbuda stemming from the collapse of Colonial Life Insurance Company (CLICO) and British American Insurance Company (BAICO).

Speaking to Trinidad media CNC3 News in St Kitts on Tuesday, the Prime Minister noted that an initial US$40 million payment was made during Persad-Bissessar’s first term in office in 2010.

He said Tuesday’s discussions focused on structuring repayment of the outstanding balance over an extended period in a manner that would not place undue strain on Trinidad and Tobago’s finances.

The outstanding debt traces back to the 2008 collapse of CLICO and BAICO, which triggered a regional financial crisis that hit OECS member states particularly hard.

“The discussion centred around paying the balance of 60 million US dollars over an extended period, a period that will not create any significant cash flow problems to the government of Trinidad and Tobago,” he said.

The prime minister said he came away from the meeting with a sense that Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar intends to follow through.

“I sense that she’s willing to honour that commitment that she made several years ago. In fact, she honoured it partially by paying the first 40 million US dollars, so I remain hopeful that a final determination will be made in the upcoming weeks,” Prime Minister Browne said.

CLICO was headquartered in Trinidad and Tobago, and the fallout from its failure created long-standing financial obligations that have remained unresolved for more than a decade.

The conversation marks a notable shift in tone between the two leaders after the Prime Minister criticised Persad-Bissessar last year after she described CARICOM as an “unreliable partner,” a characterisation that strained relations between the two governments.

The Prime Minister said his response had been directed specifically at the reliability of trade flows rather than a broader criticism of the Trinidad and Tobago prime minister.

“Trinidad and Tobago is practically the supermarket of the Caribbean and I made that statement just to point out to her that CARICOM is not altogether unreliable,” he said.

The Prime Minister acknowledged room for improvement in how CARICOM member states support one another commercially, but maintained that the bloc’s value to Trinidad and Tobago as a trading partner was not in dispute.