Health & Education gets lion’s share of $426M Budget
The ‘transitionary’ Budget, according to Premier Fahie, does not include any moneys that will have to be paid out to companies or entities that would have filed court cases against the previous administration that will require payment from the public purse.
Increased Revenue
According to Premier Fahie, a total of $331M has been set aside for recurrent expenditure while $73.4M will go towards capital investments.
He lamented not being able to have more money allocated for capital expenditure and emphasised that the 2019 budget is in fact a ‘transitionary’ one.
He told Members of the House of Assembly (HoA) that government expects to meet its revenue targets for the year primarily, through better tax collections.
The Premier and Minister of Finance was quick to also point out that the newly elected Virgin Islands Party (VIP) government, will not be ‘stifling’ the economy in anyway and while the fiscal strategy for the year envisions increased revenue, there will not be any new taxes.
Growth
He told members of the HoA, the Territory’s economy is expected to grow by 2.2 per cent this year.
Providing some insight into the 2019’s $426M Annual Estimates, the Finance Minister noted that $13M has been set aside for payment of debts.
According to Premier Fahie, total public sector debt for the VI stood at $242.7M or 19.2 per cent of nominal GDP.
He told members of the HoA that Constitutional Departments have been handed 2.7 per cent of the total budget while the Governor’s group has been provided with 11.5 per cent.
According to Fahie, the Ministry of Finance has been allocated 10 per cent of the total budget while the Ministry for Education, Culture, Youth Affairs, Fisheries and Agriculture was allocated 15 per cent, while the Ministry of Health and Social Development was allocated 20 per cent—the lion’s share of the 2019 Budget.
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