Senate Approves 57 Billion Dollar NHT Draw Down

The Senate has passed legislation to allow the Government to extend the National Housing Trust’s annual contributions of 11.4 billion dollars for the next five years to help the country recover from the pandemic. The act will see the NHT giving the central government 57 billion dollars for the period.

The Government says it is cash-strapped due to the pandemic and is relying on the National Housing Trust’s to help the economy recover.

Finance and the Public Service Minister Dr Nigel Clarke tabled a bill on Tuesday, December 1, to amend the NHT act to allow for the Government to draw down $57 billion from the housing entity over the next five years to cushion the economic impact of the virus.

But of concern is whether the draw down will affect the entity’s capacity to provide low income housing to contributors.

But the Opposition Senators were not convinced citing that the annual draw down which would’ve expired in March 2021 won’t affect the entity or its contributors.

Meanwhile, Senator Kavan Gayle who sits on the NHT Board is calling for enhanced transparency in the use of the funds.