Results from the Nine-Month Budget Performance Report show steady progress towards closing the Government’s deficit gap. The Ministry of Finance released its quarterly report this week, showing strong revenue performance in the third quarter (Q3).

“We successfully reduced the deficit by over $130 million in the first nine-months compared to the same fiscal period last year. That’s a 51% improvement. And notably, in this third quarter we achieved a $40 million surplus, a substantial improvement over the $7M deficit for this same third quarter last year. Our performance is steadily moving us towards closing the deficit gap, but we must maintain expenditure discipline to ultimately meet our yearend target,” said K. Peter Turnquest, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.

“Let us not forget, in addition to financing the ordinary cost of government, we have budgeted to pay off $172 million in old bills in this fiscal year, so we have limited room to maneuver. Through the end of March, we’ve settled over $110 million in these old bills. To be able to pay off such a backlog of arrears, while still reducing the deficit, is no easy feat; it depends on us being disciplined. I have said many times before, we must stay the course, and it is no different this time,” said Minister Turnquest.

The combination of seasonal business licence receipts and increased VAT revenue and stamp taxes led to an anticipated boost in revenue that underpinned the strong performance in Q3.

“Business licence performance not only met our expectations for the customary third quarter boost, but it is noteworthy that business licence revenue was up by 35%. This underscores the fact that the economy is strengthening and expanding, and that overall, business receipts are improving. It also reflects the fact that the Department of Inland Revenue has seen an uptick in the number of businesses being regularized and in the number of new registrants,” said Minister Turnquest.

The transition from VAT on realty transactions to stamp tax on realty transactions led to an approximate twofold increase in the yield from $80.6M a year ago to $161.6M in this fiscal period. Non-tax revenues, which totaled $167.3 million also surpassed the third-quarter budget mark with a gain of $20.7M compared to the last review period. Immigration fees were higher by $20.9 million (44.0%) due to the recent fee increases. This equated to 89.3% of the budget target.

Expenditures for the review period increased by $86.5M (5%). The bulk of the comparatively higher growth reflect increases in  expenditure on rents, utilities and the purchase of goods and services, as well as the settlement of budgeted arrears

MORE INFO

For full details of the Government’s nine-month budget performance, read the Fiscal Snapshot and the detailed Nine-Month Report on Budgetary Performance which can be downloaded below.

• Nine-Month Fiscal Snapshot on Budgetary Performance