Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 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
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×