Heritage and Stabilization Fund - HSF
Categories: Managed Funds, Econ
The Heritage and Stabilization Fund (HSF) is a new name for an old thing, which used to be called the Interim Revenue Stabilization Fund from 2000 to 2007 (guess it’s not just for the “interim” anymore).
The Heritage and Stabilization Fund is a sovereign wealth fund (a government-owned investment account using government reserves) created in 2007 by the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, which primarily invests surplus petroleum revenues. Funnily enough, the fund is in US dollars.
The fund, as the name implies, is to be tapped for public spending when the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago needs some stabilization, like when the price of oil or natural gas drops on the international market. Funds are only allowed to be taken out of the HSF when oil revenues in any given year are more than 10% less than what was estimated for that year.