Finance Minister Colm Imbert says the Government is still awaiting a response from the US Treasury Department on its request for an extension to have the FATCA legislation approved.
The extension may turn out to be Government's only hope of saving some sectors of the economy from collapsing after the Opposition's walkout on the debate yesterday, leaving the Bill's passage before the September 30 deadline in jeopardy.
Speaking to reporters about the Bill's future some time after the Opposition walkout, Imbert said he expected the response from the US authorities next week, adding what the Government was not prepared to do yesterday "was to allow this Bill to go to a vote and fail."
He said if that were to happen the matter could not return before a six-month period and if it had failed "it would have sent an entirely wrong signal to the US Treasury and American authorities."
He reiterated that was the Government's major concern, adding that "under no circumstances are we going to do anything that will allow this Bill to fail."
Imbert said he also wrote to the US ambassador in Port-of-Spain, John Estrada, who "has gone off to Washington and he told me he was also going to speak to people in the (US) Treasury and we will see what happens."
He said: "It was not a time for nervousness but a time for being purposeful and doing it the right way and making sure we don't give the US the wrong message as a country, that we are prepared to be flippant abut this whole thing."
Imbert said since September 12, following a private meeting between the Government and Opposition, he had realised the Opposition had no intention of supporting the Bill. He said the People's National Movement (PNM) Government did everything it could do to secure approval of the measure and it would have been very easy for the Opposition to draft and present its amendments to the legislation two weeks ago.
He also dismissed an Opposition claim that Government brought the legislation to distract attention from the national budget to be presented next Friday.
Rather, he said he, his staff and the Government were being inconvenienced "by accommodating the antics of the Opposition."
Imbert said instead of yesterday's fiasco he should have instead been "going through the 10,000 line items in the budget" and looking at specific documents. He said the estimates were to be printed yesterday.
Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, Stuart Young, said the inability to have the legislation approved "lies at the footstep of the Opposition."
"They have not shown that they are responsible. Their display and behaviour today was obviously staged and they came here intending to walk out and to not support this legislation."
Young insisted the legislation was "not legislation that affects the rights of citizens of T&T. This legislation affects US taxpayers and residents. So all the propaganda that they (Opposition) are attempting to protect citizens of T&T are completely false, inaccurate and wholly irresponsible."
Young added: "This legislation is not about T&T citizens."
He insisted that the issue of reciprocity "will not come into play until the US Government passes domestic legislation."
The walkout caused House Leader, Planning and Development Minister Camille Robinson-Regis, to call for the early adjournment of the House to Friday at 1.30 pm, when the national budget for 2016/17 will be presented by Imbert.