BVI Premier Announced New Budget Format and Fiscal Strategies

In his 2013 Budget Address to the BVI territory, the Premier and Minister of Finance Dr Orlando Smith named the increase of revenue from tourism, increased market share in the financial services industry, and renewed activity in the other components of the economy as the main factors for achieving positive economic growth in the British Virgin Islands.

The Premier explained that this budget is made over a rolling three-year period, for the first time in the history of the British Virgin Islands. This method will assist the government in the planning for a longer term, and allow for the better management. The new budget format is built upon a new chart of accounts that is based on the International Monetary Fund’s government finance statistics (GFS) format. 

The fundamental principles of the government’s fiscal strategy include: increasing the recurrent budget surplus over the medium term through the enhancement of the revenue stream, a reduction in recurrent revenue growth, reducing the fiscal deficit by 2015, meeting the borrowing limit ratios stated in the protocols for effective financial management, and enhancing the financial management structure and practices within the government.