St. Kitts and Nevis’ Finance Minister Introduces EC $1.02 Billion Budget for 2023
Basseterre, St. Kitts, December 14, 2022 (SKNIS): Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Honourable Dr. Terrance Drew introduced the Appropriation Bill (2023), 2022, of approximately EC$1.02 Billion under the theme: “Towards Our Transformation as a Sustainable Small Island State” during the Sitting of Parliament on Wednesday, December 14 at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort Ballroom.
“My Government has worked hard to ensure that the necessary resources would be provided to facilitate a more effective and efficient delivery of public services,” said Dr. Drew. “In this regard, we are proposing the allocation of $1.02 billion to support Recurrent and Capital Expenditure, as well as Principal Payments in 2023.”
The Finance Minister laid the Draft Estimates before the Honourable House and outlined the government’s proposal for the fiscal year 2023.
“The Draft Estimates that are being presented by my Government represent our intention to deepen the recovery process. We will continue to stimulate growth and build resilience which would translate into a better way of life for our people. This presentation is buttressed by our vision that aims to transform St. Kitts and Nevis into a sustainable small island state,” said Prime Minister the Honourable Dr. Drew. “To this end, initiatives have and will continue to be assessed to ensure proper alignment with our Sustainable Island State Agenda. Volume I provides the details of my Government’s Expenditure and Revenue Plans while the proposals for expenditure by the various Line Ministries are presented in Volume II.”
He added that the “programmes and activities proposed are forward-looking and are designed to help our country and people to move past COVID-19 especially after recognizing that the pandemic is now endemic.”
The proposed allocations are as follows: Governor-General, $1,933,990; Parliament, $2,137,952; Audit Office, $1,505,735; Justice and Legal Affairs, $14,127,509; Prime Minister’s Office, $100,895,888; National Security, Citizenship and Immigration, $98,427,989; International Trade, Industry, Commerce and Consumer Affairs, $6,313,914; Finance, $307,380,579; Social Development and Gender Affairs, $43,254,144 and Agriculture, Fisheries, Marine Resources and Cooperatives $25,143,820.
The Ministry of Tourism, Civil Aviation and International Transport was allocated $44,508,993; Public Infrastructure, Energy, Utilities and Domestic Transport, $63,625,109; Education, $111,857,074; Health and Social Security, $93,889,465; Sports and the Creative Economy, $19,149,264; Sustainable Development, $15,588,313; Foreign Affairs, $20,273,804; Office of the Attorney-General, $13,116,835; Employment and Labour, $6,381,075; Housing, Human Settlement, Ecclesiastical Affairs and Faith-based Affairs, $6,720,283; Environment, Climate Action and Constituency Empowerment, $8,550,792; Information, Communication, Technology and Post, $13,435,762; Youth Empowerment, Ageing and Disabilities, $2,489,221; Economic Development and Investment, $2,631,378, and Small Business and Entrepreneurship, $1,298,413.
“Madam Speaker, the proposed allocations would allow the Line Ministries to undertake their critical roles as we chart a new trajectory for growth and development. This would be the beginning of truly placing our people and their future first in our efforts at building a resilient society,” said Finance Minister Dr. Drew. “Our Capital Expenditure proposals will advance the implementation of sustainable and resilient projects that will generate employment in both emerging and traditional sectors in our economy. Having outlined an ambitious Medium-Term Agenda, we have infused realism in the outlook for the fiscal year 2023 as we endeavour to build forward not only from an infrastructural perspective but to inspire our people to emerge from the recent challenges in a better, more self-reliant way.”