NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (December 11, 2023)- Premier of Nevis and Minister of Finance the Honourable Mark Brantley has commended the Cabinet Ministers and Department Heads of the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) for staying within the budgeted allotments for the year 2022.

Citing the Audited Public Accounts for the NIA for the fiscal year 2022, Premier Brantley revealed that, “During the 2022 financial year, all Programme Heads kept their spending on the current account well within the budgeted amounts provided.”

The Premier was at the time debating the 2024 Budget in the Nevis Island Assembly on December 07.

For the Premier’s Ministry $5,635,000 was budgeted for 2022 and $5,468,273 was actually spent for a savings of $166, 727.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Lands et al. spent $6,552,837 of the budgeted $7,179,500, thereby saving $626,663.

For the Ministry of Education and Sports et al. $28,163,500 was budgeted and $26,499,990 was spent, for a savings of $1,663,591.

The Ministry of Communication and Works et al. was allotted $15,454,900 and spent $14,015,328 for a savings of $1,439,572.

The Ministry of Health and Gender Affairs et al. saved $2,296,139, having spent $20,519,961 of the $22,816,100 that was budgeted.

“I believe all the Members should take a bow because it means that they had the Ministries and the spending under control. That’s what the Audit Report shows,” the Premier stated.

According to the Director of Audit’s conclusion of the Statement of Expenditure, it can be concluded that significant effort was made to control expenditure for the year 2022.

“The fact that only two of the expenditure heads on the recurrent account exceeded its budgeted allocations is commendable. Hence the resulting net savings on the Budget in the amount of $3.54 million,” the report cites.

On December 05 Premier Brantley outlined a $282.7 million Budget for the NIA for 2024 under the theme “Investing for Growth: Building the framework to support a Resilient and Sustainable Economy”. He said as the NIA seeks to continue its post-Covid economic reset, thegovernment will seek to implement measures to enhance economic stabilization in the short term, whilst simultaneously reinforcing the foundation for economic expansion in the medium to long term.

“I wish to assure the public that we will not be reckless in our spending and we will only seek to undertake projects if the funding is available or can be accessed at low cost in accordance with our debt management strategy.”

He further assured the citizens and residents that his Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM)-led Administration will continue to pursue policies that would enhance the island’s economic climate, promote investment, and stimulate economic activity with the ultimate goal of inspiring human progress and enhancing economic resilience.