$402M 2021 Budget announced for VI
‘Inordinate task’
It is the 3rd budget in 20 months for the Virgin Islands Party (VIP) Government, which Premier Fahie said was “an inordinate task.”
The budget was delivered during the Second Sitting of the First Session of the Fourth House of Assembly (HoA) held at the Save the Seed Energy Centre in Duff’s Bottom, Tortola.
The figures
According to the Leader of Government Business, the technical experts in the Ministry of Finance are projecting estimated revenues for Government in the sum of $332.3M.
He said $309.9M will be coming from taxes and $20.4M from other revenue sources.
Recurrent expenditure is estimated at $325.2M with employee compensation accounting for some $122.6M, $79.4M allocated for goods and services, $77.4M for various grants, and $18.6M for social benefits.
Other expenditures include $9.6M in grants to the BVI Tourist Board, $9.02M to the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College (HLSCC), $3M for foreign scholarships and $62,000 for domestic scholarships and $1M in grant funding to the BVI Health Services Authority (BVIHSA).
Premier Fahie said a recurrent surplus of $5.2M has been projected.
Capital expenditure of $62.53M, Premier Fahie said, is being targeted.
He said this will be funded by $21.1M in loan funds from Caribbean Development Bank 9CDB) and Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Loan (RRL) and $35.4M from the Consolidated Fund, as well as insurance proceeds among other sources of funding.
A further $12.5M has been allocated for debt servicing.
According to the Premier, an overall deficit of $69.8M is being projected largely from capital projects but this will be funded through a $34.7M drawing from the Consolidated Fund capital expenses.
‘COVID-19 has not crippled us’
The Premier also used the opportunity to speak about the long list of achievements of Government and some of the many plans in place for additional revenue.
He said the “Budget Statement” is a testimony of Government’s confidence in being committed to the people, in spite of the novel coronavirus challenges, adding that “COVID-19 has not crippled us.”
More details to follow.
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21 Responses to “$402M 2021 Budget announced for VI”
And I am saying this as a Virgin Islander by birth and heritage. I can trace my roots back to my great grandmother but not beyond... the odds are that whether you are Smith, Thomas, Hodge, Lettsome, Penn, Maduro, Rabsatt, Skelton, George, Stevens, Callwood, Fahie, Flemming or any other "local" surname... your people came from somewhere else and settled here a few generations ago. You are a transplanted people just like my family. Lets stop the demonizing of people from "other" places and learn to respect and value the shared heritage we all have as sons and daughters of the African slave trade. I am a child of the Caribbean Black experience and value the rich tapestry and cultural richness of the region. While I agree that certain benefits and privileges should and must be protected for the citizens (born and naturalised) of a country, xenophobia, prejudice and racism are a deadly cancer that will eat us alive.
Last but not least... we love to proclaim ourselves a Christian nation. I am a Christian but this is not a Christian nation... Christians are individuals who have recognized their needs for a Saviour and have decided to serve the Lord Jesus. And in the Holy Bible, we learn where the Israelites after being delivered from Egyptian bondage were warned not to oppress the stranger among them since they themselves were slaves in a strange land (Exodus 23:9), Jesus himself told us to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40), and the Apostle Paul tells us that in Christ them is no Jew or gentile, slave or free, rich or poor... we are all one in Christ (Galatians 3:28). Hatred and strife against other people is not a Christian value.
If we really want to claim the mantle of Christianity and restore a sense of decency and righteousness to this land, lets stop talking and start living the Word. Then maybe we will truly be able to stem the tide of evil that promotes this culture of hatred, strife, division, fault-finding, drugs, illicit and immoral behavior, murder, corruption and the like (2 Timothy 3:1-7). Let's repent of our wicked and evil thoughts and ways and surrender to the Lord before the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah becomes ours (Luke 17:26-30).