BRADES Montserrat, February 9, 2011 – Citing a major shortfall in expected tax revenue, Chief Minister of Montserrat, the Honourable Reuben T. Meade and the Financial Secretary, the Honourable John Skerritt called for government departments to curb spending as the financial year comes to a close.

Speaking on the radio programme The People’s Show on Wednesday night, Chief Minister Meade gave an overview of the operations of government and how each area functions. He said the United Kingdom had met its obligations for the annual grants to Montserrat and that the expected tax revenue which was to cover the balance of the recurrent budget had not been raised.

The leader of government said it was unreasonable as suggested by Opposition member the Honourable Donaldson Romeo to expect that the UK government should cover Montserrat’s shortfall as they had kept their agreement. “If the UK is making a 25% cut and employing austerity measures how can we say to them we will do nothing to help ourselves?” Chief Minister Meade asked on air.

Finance Secretary John Skerritt said the option that the government is deploying is to issue a General Warrant requesting each ministry to adjust its programmes and budget to ensure that only the available monies are used.  It is estimated that about nine million EC dollars must be collected by the end of March to cover government expenses for the final quarter of the budget year 2010/2011.

The chief minister called for public servants to work together and within their allocated budgets. He said it was important that Montserrat take the tough decisions themselves and not follow in the footsteps of other territories like Anguilla, where the British have had to send in a team to work out the budget and the measures necessary for running the island.

Chief Minister Meade added that every effort is being made to get the private sector growing, which in turn benefits the government.