NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (December 03, 2024) – Premier of Nevis the Honourable Mark Brantley, Minister of Finance in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA), delivered his 2024 Budget Address in the Nevis Island Assembly on December 03, 2024, outlining a $273.17 million budget for the Nevis government for fiscal year 2025. 

Premier Brantley presented the budget under the theme: “Moving Forward: People Focused, Supporting Entrepreneurship and Bolstering Job Creation”. 

“This people-centered approach embodies the mantra of this Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM)-led Government – “People Matter Most” – putting our people first and putting their interests foremost on our governance agenda,” he said.

“As we turn to our fiscal projections, the budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2025 is set at $273.17 million, a minor reduction of three percent when compared to the budget of $282.7 million which was set for the fiscal year 2024. We have allocated the amount of $203.8 million to recurrent spending representing 75.0 percent of the total budgeted expenditure.”

The NIA projects revenue collections will provide a total overall Recurrent Revenue of $230.7 million for the upcoming 2025 fiscal period.

“When compared to the projected Recurrent Expenditure of $203.8 million, it provides a surplus on the recurrent budget of $26.9 million,” said the Premier.

The major allocations in the NIA’s expenditure for 2025 are as follows:

• The Office of the Premier is allocated funding in the amount of $11.8 million representing 4 percent of the total budget.
• The Ministry of Finance is allocated funding in the amount of $99.20 million representing 36 percent of the total budget.
• The Ministry of Communications and Works et al. is allocated funding in the amount of $42.0 million representing 15 percent of the total budget.
• The Ministry of Agriculture et al. is allocated funding in the amount of $17.3 million representing 6 percent of the total budget.
• The Ministry of Health, Gender Affairs and Social Empowerment is allocated funding in the amount of $48.7 million representing 18 percent of the total budget.
• The Ministry of Tourism is allocated funding in the amount of $6.5 million representing 2 percent of the total budget.
• The Ministry of Education, Library Services, Information Technology, Youth and Sports is allocated funding in the amount of $41.3 million representing 15 percent of the total budget.

Premier Brantley pointed out that while the government has made these projections, annual budgets are merely projections for revenue and expenditure.