The Hon Donaldson Romeo, Premier and Minister of Finance of Montserrat, for four years and seven months on Wednesday, May 15, 2019, presented his fifth and largest budget of $202.2 million in a BUDGET SPEECH, under the theme, “A New Era of Transformation: A Platform for Progress”, during a meeting of the Legislative Assembly at the Montserrat Cultural Centre where he outlined the spending and revenue expectations for this financial year.
No surprise that the budget focused as it did representing the largest sum of moneys over the time of the PDM government, which is represented in a modest increase of nearly 5% over last year and substantial capital budgeted sums.
It was that capital injection that delayed the budget as the Premier noted when he was moved to address the matter through special interviews with the media.
The Premier stated “this budget which marks a milestone in the long journey to build strong and sustainable foundations for a better Montserrat, and in our development partnership with the UK. Given the significance of the transformational projects in the budget, we now stand on the threshold of an era of growth and progress towards a robust future. We have strengthened our governance framework, with financial management systems and controls that improve the trust and confidence in public spending. In that context, we are now seeing key infrastructure investments and interest by local and international investors that could open up further opportunities for a new Montserrat economy”.
The Premier highlighted that “the upcoming Little Bay breakwater and berth will bring better tourism and trade opportunities. The upcoming Fibre Optic Cable Project opens up room for a digitally based sector. The new 250 kiloWatt Solar PV power plant points to a greener energy future. The new tourism strategy and economic growth strategy lay out a ten-year road-map to take advantage of these opportunities. That’s why projected growth in our economy for the year ahead is 3.2 – 3.5%. We are on the way to the growth targets outlined in our economic strategy”.
The Premier continued to discuss the actual sums involved stating “We have moved to a much more credible budget which was critical to implementing the programs you the people have charged us to deliver. Estimates of recurrent Revenue and Expenditure for 2019/20 provide for a total of $137.77 million dollars. This is a 4.81% increase over the previous year. On the capital side there is EC$ 64.40 million to finance several key infrastructure projects that will open the doorway for faster, self-sustaining growth of our economy in years to come”.
Go here to find the speech and estimates:
http://www.gov.ms/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Budget-Speech-2019-20.pdf
http://Budget Estimates- http://www.gov.ms/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Budget-Estimates-2019-20.pdf
