(Trinidad Express) The National Insurance Board (NIB) came under fire yesterday for a four-year-old million dollar investment in CLICO Investment Bank (CIB) instead of a more stable State enterprise.
The question arose during the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) review of the NIB’s financial documents at the Parliament building at the International Financial Centre in Port of Spain on Tuesday.
A review of the financial documents showed a small percentage of the million-dollar fund remained in a fixed deposit, while larger sums were allocated to a bond with the Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (UDeCOTT) and a TT$156 million investment into CIB.
Lorna Charles, NIB’s executive director, said on Tuesday she could not recall the exact rate of interest on the UDeCOTT bond, but said it would have been at the prevailing rate at the time in 2009.
Charles itemised the investment portfolio and explained that most of the money was placed in substantial long term investments in local companies while as much as 27 per cent was invested in higher yield, higher risk international investments.
