Premier’s Office outlines funding limitations ahead budget address
Ahead of the Premier’s upcoming 2025 fiscal budget presentation, Permanent Secretary in the Premier’s Office, Carolyn Stoutt-Igwe, acknowledged challenges in securing sufficient funds for ministry allocations.
In a statement on Thursday, November 7, Stoutt-Igwe explained that ministry budgets are determined based on individual needs, which may impact other areas of funding.
“That is [another] one of the challenges we have—trying to ensure each ministry has adequate funding to operate effectively,” she stated.
She noted that the Ministry of Finance issues a budgetary limit, known as a “ceiling,” for each ministry to ensure spending remains within set parameters.
Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley, who also serves as Minister of Finance, echoed the difficulty of balancing the budget under these constraints.
“It’s challenging to present a budget with all the limitations we face. We have ratios we must adhere to, fixed revenue, and numerous obligations,” he said.
Budget Day is scheduled for Monday, November 11, at 1 p.m. and will be broadcast live on the Government Information Services’ official Facebook page.
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What are your background and qualifications? I have never seen the BVI civil service leadership so ineffective and cold-hearted. And most of them are preachers and strong churchgoers.
If there is a ‘ceiling’ limit to funding for ministries, pray tell why there seems to be ever increasing SAP’s? Where is the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in all of this? Is it a non-functioning body that has taken a permanent dirt nap?
Check and balances seem to be a foreign concept to this government. Does this mean more debt funding for schools, hospital & clinics, roads, water, salaries/pensions?
Whom are the government economists providing fiscal advise? Which ‘consultant’ is that…?
While you have probably identified your limitations. When will the government also be honest about the waist and misuse of funds? What has been the ROI for each government department and statutory body ?
It’s a crying shame to look at the state of the BVI when you consider how much money financial services have generated over the last 30 years. Nothing to show. Talk about piss poor governance and planning as well as misappropriation. Sad indeed.
No cap
No
Limits for Entertainment. That area is a one man call . The BVI is coming to a pretty state of affairs
Oh premiere Wheatley did well balancing the budget to extort Vybz Kartel money in the quarter million USD region and flights abroad. He makes a professional as Ms i*** looks dumb by interfering in this woman works. Because natalio Wheatley knows not one thing about finance.
The crying shame is that the government is overstaffed with a non-contributory pension that is slowly killing the Treasury. The issues within government can be fixed in one month but who has the balls to do it? The irony is that we blame the politicians but dig deeper and you will see that the bloated civil service is the noose around our necks. When you look at how many people are employed within government vs the level of service it is shameful. Reduce the service, build a proper government building and stop renting spaces and you will see how much money the government will have each budget cycle. Having a streamlined operation that is merit/performance based and a pension where contributions are mandatory would save government $50mil per year.
The UK realize that we are on a downward trajectory and are giving us until early 2025 before reality sets in. The Premier should realize that he needs to run a tight ship. A wise politician once said to me perception is everything. Stop playing.