Government is examining the possibility of issuing more FCB shares for public offering by next year, Finance Minister Larry Howai hinted yesterday.Speaking in the Senate on the Insurance (Amendment) Bill, Howai also mentioned Phoenix Park Gas Processors for public offering.He said Government was trying to multiply companies on the stock exchange in the next five years and had identified initiatives which soon would be rolled out.
Howai said the T&T Stock Market had a very good year, making T&T's index grow by 15 per cent, a very positive rate of growth," he added.He said the volume of stocks was up $1 billion from 2012 and the volume of shares traded this year was up 100 per cent.Howai said the insurance amendment was geared towards a comprehensive overhaul of the sector from duties and power of the inspector of the sector to governance issues.
He noted the sector contributed 15 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), second to the energy sector, and had been operating under outdated 1980 legislation.The bill, presented in the last session of Parliament, was examined by a Joint Select Committee (JSC) which sought input from sector stakeholders and also recruited a Commonwealth expert, through the Parliament, for assistance on the issue.He said the bill would continue to be examined by a JSC in the session of Parliament.
Howai said the insurance sector, which was worth $23 billion in assets (excluding Clico figures), grew by 8.7 per cent in 2012 with claims of $1.5 billion.He said Government had, during the Clico crisis, sought to assist regional states against the ill-effects of contagion.He said given the weaknesses in some of those regional states he was not sure T&T quite staved off the risks the economy could face given the financial risks "out there" in the region.
He, however, said T&T had the strongest banks in the region and those were well capitalised and were strengthening the financial sector's regulatory framework.