Road Town, Tortola - Government’s estimates of revenue and expenditure for 2010 will be revealed on March 5, 2010.
Premier and Minister of Finance Honourable Ralph T. O’Neal, OBE on Saturday disclosed that date as Budget Day for the Territory. On Budget Day, the Premier in his capacity as Minister for Finance will outline Government’s fiscal plans for the current year.
Speaking at his annual New Year’s Party on Jost Van Dyke, Honourable O’Neal said Government is continuing to explore ways to reduce expenditure.
He spoke of initiatives already taken to reduce the amount of money spent on travelling. “We started last August to cut down on travelling. What used to be presented to us in the Cabinet was about $70,000 a month in travelling. We have reduced that to $40,000 and we want to reduce it even further,” the Premier stated.
He also noted that efforts are being made to encourage cross training in the public service to reduce the need for additional employees. Honourable O’Neal also pointed to reduced spending on telephones.
“We have to do a lot to show that we are trying to save as much as we could to invest more in the infrastructure of the Territory. The money we save from these cost-cutting measures can go into the capital work of the Territory; the roads, bridges, drains, schools, clinics and those sorts of things.”
Since the onset of the global economic downturn in 2008, Premier O’Neal has repeatedly stressed the need to engage in belt-tightening.
In last year’s budget address, titled Facing Threats and Capitalising on Opportunities, Premier O’Neal noted that the projected revenue represented a 1.7% decline over the 2008 estimates. He explained that the reduction in projected revenue was directly linked to the ongoing turmoil in the global economy, a situation that creates significant challenges for the BVI, but at the same time presents opportunities to evaluate the manner in which Government conducts business.
Following the budget address, legislators will convene for Standing Finance Committee to discuss budgetary submissions with heads of each ministry, department, unit and statutory board. These meetings are scheduled for March 9 to 30. This will be followed by the budget debate in the House of Assembly on April 22 and 23.
By law, the 2010 budget must be approved by the House no later than April 30, 2010 which marks the end of the provisional period. Section 105 of The Virgin Islands Constitutional Order 2007 provides for a provisional period in the absence of an approved budget during which up to one-third of previous year’s budget can be expended in the current financial year.
British Virgin Islands News