Dominica's 2024/2025 budget to be presented today: EC$1.4B in expenditure

Dominica: Minister of Finance, Dr. Irving McIntyre is all set to present the highly anticipated 2024/2025 budget today during the First Meeting of the Second Session of the 11th Parliament.

According to the information, the proposed Estimates of Expenditure for the financial year which will be ending on June 30, 2025, totals to more than one billion dollars. The total amount of the same is EC$1,486,951,793.00.

It is to be noted that the parliament will also seek to authorize borrowing by means of overdraft from financial institutions and authorization for an additional credit facility from the IDA – International Development Association for funding the significant project of Emergency Agricultural Livelihoods and Climate Resilience.

In addition to this, during the budget address, another main agenda which is will be discussed is the resolution to amend the Value Added Tax Schedule. Also, President Sylvanie Burton will be delivering her inaugural address to the Parliament during this meeting.

It is said that the proceedings of the house will kickstart at 10 am and will be telecasted live through the Government Information Service and Dominica Broadcasting Service on their official social media channels.

Moreover, earlier this month, Prime Minister Dr. Roosevelt Skerrit remarked that the upcoming budget will benefit every citizen of Dominica.

He said this during a press conference and noted that the government seeks to present a fiscal package which responds to the social and economic realities of the citizens. 

He remarked that budget will be focusing on the efforts to consolidate the gains the island has made recently and it will also outlined measures and priorities to further stimulate economic activity, create more jobs and will also improve long term efficiency in the administration of the nation’s affairs. 

He also said that the budget will have something special for the nurses as there will be a new structure for the nursing service in Dominica. This structure will include the creation of several new jobs, allowing for upward mobility of the nurses. 

Apart from this, the budget is anticipated to benefit all the citizens of the country as it has something for everyone.