By Government of Montserrat
BRADES, Montserrat — Montserrat’s premier and minister of finance and economic management, Joseph E. Farrell today presented the government of Montserrat’s EC$206.09 million budget for the 2020/21 financial year, during his 2021 budget address.
The government’s budget presentation was delivered under the theme ‘Beyond The New Normal: Recovery, Growth and Opportunity in The Age of COVID-19’ as the minister of finance acknowledged that COVID-19 will be a reality for the foreseeable future. “The uncertainty of the duration of the crises and the global economic recession demand that we take stock of the lessons learned thus far and use them to build our resilience to withstand global shocks like this in the future while advancing our development agenda,” stated minister Farrell.
In his presentation in the meeting of the Legislative Assembly at the Montserrat Cultural Centre the minister of finance outlined the progress made on several promised transformation projects during the last fiscal year, adding that “the progress has been nothing short of remarkable when you place it against the context of COVID-19.”
Looking ahead, the minister of finance noted that the government of montserrat’s “pursuit of the development priorities for 2021/22 will ensure our recovery and lay the foundations that, in time, will secure Montserrat’s sustained economic growth.”
He then outlined these priority areas, including developing and implementing appropriate sector strategies for priority sectors such as renewable energy, tourism, access and agro-processing; managing projects to deliver priority infrastructure for economic growth and improving educational outcomes for regional and international competitiveness and sustainable livelihoods, among others.
Finance minister Farrell in his address presented the details of the estimated recurrent revenue and expenditures for the 2021-2022 fiscal period.
- Total Expenditure (including debt servicing) – EC$136.34 million.
- Revenue estimate for 2021/22 is EC$134.34 million a 6.1 percent increase over the 2020/2021 approved estimates. The estimated revenue from local sources is EC$48.20 million compared to approved estimate of EC$36.99 million and outturn of $48.7 million in 2020/21.
- Capital Expenditure for 2021/22 is EC$69.75 million.
The expectation of government is that the Capital expenditures will spill off into the economy and stimulate the private sector. The classifications are as follows:
- Economic Infrastructure Development of EC$54.91 million, 78.72 percent
- Social Infrastructure Development of EC$10.43 million, 14.95 percent
- Education of EC$2.15 million, 3.08 percent
- Public Administration of EC$1.73 million, 2.49 percent
- Statistical Research and Miscellaneous Projects of EC$0.30 million, 0. 44 percent
- Agricultural Services of EC$0.23 million, 0.32 percent
The recurrent budget provides a reflection of a number of policies and programmes aimed at moving government towards fiscal sustainability. The recurrent budget is used to facilitate salaries, wages, and operational expenses of the ministries and departments across government.
Full details on the 2021-22 budget can be accessed here.
The budget statement is available here.
