Premier and Minister of Finance, Dr the Hon Natalio D. Wheatley (R7), has asked the people of the Virgin Islands (VI) to allow his government to deliver changes as laid out in the foundation presented in the 2027 National Budget. Photo: GIS

Premier and Minister of Finance, Dr the Hon Natalio D. Wheatley (R7) delivered the 2027 National Budget on October 27, 2026, at the Eileen L. Parsons Auditorium at the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College (HLSCC). Photo: GIS

Dr Wheatley said this while delivering the 2027 National Budget on October 27, 2026, at Eileene L. Parsons Auditorium, H. Lavity Stoutt Community College (HLSCC) in Paraquita Bay. 

“Our people’s efforts are leading to a brighter and more prosperous future. A young person should see a future in these Virgin Islands. A family should see a path to ownership. A community that has waited should see work completed,” he said in the budget address titled, ‘Turning Progress into Prosperity’. 

“Our people have continued to believe that these islands can move forward. Today, long-awaited pension relief, stronger student results, obstacles removed and essential works progressing give us a foundation for greater hope. We must carry those gains further so that more of you can feel the difference in your own lives.”

'Give us the opportunity to deliver those changes'

Premier Wheatley presented a budget of five hundred and fifty-nine million, one hundred and forty-one thousand, one hundred dollars ($559,141,100). 

“We have laid foundations that give us the opportunity to deliver those changes,” he told Virgin Islanders.

The overarching theme across the Dr Wheatley-led Administration has been Building a Sustainable Nation, guided by the National Sustainable Development Plan, Vision 2036.

Vision 2036, he said, goes beyond one election because our children's future goes beyond one term of office. “We laid blocks of success and raised pillars of progress; now we must strengthen the structure so that more people can share the gains.”

All Virgin Islanders, whether at home or abroad, have a part in that work, Mr Wheatley said. “Now we must carry the work through, with steady leadership and an urgency equal to our people’s expectations. Let 2027 be the year more Virgin Islanders can say: 'I can see the progress, and I can feel the difference'. That is the prosperity my Government is working to deliver.”