Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicosIslands, February 14, 2024 – The Turks and Caicos third Supplementary Appropriations Bill will reduce spending for the country by $1.07 million according to E. Jay Saunders, Deputy Premier and Finance Minister and included in the supplementary are provisions for land purchases and money for a mortgage cooperation.
It comes as the Turks and Caicos records $350 million in profit for the first three quarters of the year. That information came along with the Supplementary, as Saunders tabled the third quarter results allowing residents to see the financial performance of the year so far.
Both were tabled on Tuesday, February 6th during a sitting of the House of Assembly. Despite a deficit recorded in the Q4 of the 2022/23 financial year the economy was back in form by Q3 of the 2023/24 year with $94 million in revenue recorded, a six percent increase over estimates.
“This performance is attributed to higher than expected: Import Duties, Customs Processing Fees, Stamp Duty on Land Transactions, and Hotel and Restaurant Taxes,” the Finance Minister revealed.
Saunders was quick to assure that the historic budget, which was increased twice in previous Supplementary bills to a total of $443 million, would not pass the set targets and there was no increase in spending for this quarter.
“There is no impact on the existing budget envelope through this supplementary budget. There will be no breach of the debt sustainability targets agreed upon by the Governments of the UK and the TCI,” he assured.
Even though no money will be added there will be shuffling for new expenses. Saunders provided a short list of the changes.
- $9.5 million to acquire land and settle an ongoing claim against the government.
- $7 million as seed funding for a Mortgage Corporation.
- $300,000 to rollout e-Government projects for the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
- $800,000 for miscellaneous adjustments for other Supplies, Materials and Equipment – Governor’s Office, Civil Servant Week and allocation to support the ongoing pay and regrading exercise and productivity audit.
As for what was spent, it cost $82.2 million to run the country in the third quarter, $5 million less than expected.
The Government under spent once more with an operating surplus of $12 million.
In terms of tangible benefits for residents 19.6 million was spent on capital projects including the South Dock redevelopment and two 1 million gallon reverse osmosis tanks.
Unfortunately the supplementary also saw cuts to the Capital Works portfolio by $7.7 million.
