St Kitts-Nevis: Another session of 2020 Budget Estimates Committee Meetings starts

Another session of the Budget Estimates Committee Meetings in preparation for the 2020 Budget for St. Kitts and Nevis commenced on Thursday at the Ministry of Finance Conference Room. The Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris is presiding over these meetings. The Budget Estimates Committee Meetings were attended by the Cabinet of Ministers and Government officials, including senior representatives from the Ministry of Finance and Permanent Secretaries from the public sector. This year’s exercise is likely to last a maximum of three days, during which time senior officers from various Ministries will present expenditure and revenue projections, update Cabinet on policy initiatives, and provide overviews of their plans and initiatives for the future.“The Estimates meeting is a meeting of the Cabinet called specifically to deal with matters of the Budget, and we are assisted in this regard by the presence of the technical team from the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Sustainable Development,” Prime Minister Harris said in a brief introductory statement during the opening session of the committee meetings.The prime minister also commended civil servants for their diligent work and warmly welcomed and introduced new Permanent Secretaries Elreter Simpson-Browne of the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tom Buchanan from the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture.At Thursday’s session, the Cabinet heard presentations from various Ministries, including Education, Youth, Sports and Culture; International Trade, Industry and Commerce; Tourism; Justice, Legal Affairs and Communications, as well as from the Office of the Governor-General.