British Virgin Islands: In a Ministry of Finance and Human Resources Circular issued to all public officers, during an HR Talk on Tuesday, it was announced that Cabinet has made the decision for the 2012 expenditure cuts that includes the reduction of performance increments by 50% in the 2012 fiscal year and reduce the operating expenses of ministries and departments by 7%, according to a BVInews.com report.
The projected savings from the cuts is estimated to be approximately $13 million, which will be used to augment the reserve fund. The operational side of this year’s budget is estimated to be $260,000,000, which indicates very little growth in revenue based on projections.
The BVInews.com report said that Financial Secretary, Mr. Neil Smith, explained to the public officers that “over the past five years we have been faced with the fact that our revenues within central government have not kept pace with our expenditure growth. Revenue growth has stopped as a result of the financial crisis in the United States and the global recession that followed as a result. Each year since that has occurred we have been faced with an ever more increasing problem where the difference between the funds available and the expenditure expectations are slim…Public officers will now have to do more with less. I am encouraging all public officers to do their part to implement cost-cutting measures. Anyone with ideas on what we can do to cut cost in the public service are asked to share those ideas with the Ministry of Finance, the Department of Human Resources or the Deputy Governor’s Office. No idea is too small”. Financial Secretary, Neil Smith
Mrs. V. Inez Archibald, Deputy Governor, said at the HR Talk, “I am not sure that this comes as a surprise, to any of us. We know we have been talking for some time about the fiscal condition of the Territory and I personally was gratified that the cuts in relation to public officers mean that they retain their jobs”, according to the BVInews.com report.
The cuts in both performance increments and operational expenses are consistent with Government’s agenda to improve fiscal management practices and reduce expenditure levels.
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