Beautiful Virgin Islands

Friday, Jul 25, 2025

More Budget Cuts Coming! Some Public Servants Operating As If It’s Business As Usual

More Budget Cuts Coming! Some Public Servants Operating As If It’s Business As Usual

The Territory’s Finance Minister has put the people of the BVI on notice that tough decisions will have to be made and there is a high possibility that more cutbacks will be forthcoming.
This includes scaling back on some government programmes and possibly having to produce a revised budget based on the financial situation in the Territory.

Premier and Finance Minister, Hon. Andrew Fahie, who made this disclosure, also expressed concerns that some public servants are operating as if its business as usual and running up government’s bills.

“You know last year because of the shutdown we had to do a revised budget, this year because of the current spike (COVID-19) and some other issues it may be something that we have to do again. We are trying to make sure too that we control expenditure,” the Premier stated.

He added, “I must say here that there are challenges trying to get this expenditure control because while there are a number of public officers who recognized that we have challenges with COVID-19, there are still a few trying to operate as if it is business as usual, and increasing, increasing the request hence increasing the expenditure.”

Premier Fahie further stated, “Some very heavy decisions are going to have to be made that would not be political decisions, but financial ones to make sure that we continue navigate this financial shift through these uncharted turbulence water without any playbook.”

He was at the time responding to questions from Hon. Melvin ‘Mitch’ Turnbull, Second District Representative, who questioned that given Territory’s plight still having to recover from the effects of the 2017 hurricanes and now more recently with the pandemic, for
the Premier to give the debt to GDP ratio of the Territory as of April 30th 2021.

He had also asked for the projections towards 2021 given the 18 months dealing with COVID-19.

Premier Fahie said that it must be noted that every government in the world is experiencing financial difficulties with COVID-19, noting that the projections for all country are now being shifted.

“We have been trying to hold steady with the revenue side based on what we have seen but the reality is we had to make some adjustments to keep the lights on, and to keep public officers hired and to our dismay we didn’t want to have to cut certain programmes but it is either cut programmes and keep certain capital things moving that are needed for the rebuilding of our territory or cut public officers,” he explained.

However, he said the choice is difficult but not so difficult, “we decided that no public officer would lose their jobs...every single ministry have programmes cut, we are trying to do more with less.”

“We are asking persons to cut back not because we want to be mean but so that we can keep all the public officers hired, keep certain things moving that would bring in revenues, so we can band together and navigate ourselves through these financial challenges because we still have to keep a very keen eye on hurricanes,” the Finance Minister cautioned.

“If it calls for a revise budget, further cuts to certain areas so that we could keep persons employed, keep the basic services running then we would have to do so. But one thing for sure we have to make adjustments all the time and we will be making some more so that we can be able to manage the finances of the country based on the revenue we have coming in,” he further explained.

Premier Fahie said that the government must also be cautious about its expenditure which can affect its borrowing ratio, bordering on being in breach of the Protocols for Effective Financial Management.

“It also means that if we have more expenditures too it will affect our borrowing power because then we could only borrow less because then our ratio would be affected also…[must ensure] they are in range with the protocols, so they have to guard against this,” he said.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
×