Montserrat’s Premier and Minister of Finance and Economic Management, Honourable Reuben T. Meade today presented a budget of three hundred and eleven million Eastern Caribbean dollars (XCD$311.78m) to the Honourable House for the 2025/26 financial year.
This recurrent budget represents a 13% increase over last year’s recurrent budget, and is the largest recurrent budget presented in the past five years.
Described as a people centred, people driven budget, the ‘One Montserrat: Building Together, Thriving Together’ themed presentation, emphasized the importance of a unified approach in our individual advancements and to propel the development of the island in line with international best practices and performance standards. ‘Together, as One Montserrat, we will embrace opportunities, invest in our future, and build a self-sufficient and thriving economy. Let us all remain united in our efforts to make this vision a reality for the betterment of our island and future generations,’ expressed Premier Meade.
While signaling the Government’s commitment to ensuring a ‘future of growth, sustainability, and prosperity for all Montserratians and residents’, Premier Meade also acknowledged the challenges globally and locally which require strategic actions to overcome. In this regard, he noted that the policies by the United States as a major global economic power, the graduation from Official Development Assistance (ODA) in 2026, volatile global energy costs and climate change among other factors will create some uncertainty in the economy.
To mitigate against these impacts the Minister of Finance announced several proposed fiscal relief initiatives for this year. These include Construction Support, Import Tax Relief, and the Reintroduction of a Tax-Free Child Allowance. The Government also intends to seek to adjust Customs Duties and Consumption Tax by reducing the freight component used to calculate the Customs Value. Hon. Meade explained, ‘This adjustment will directly lower the cost of imported goods, making essential items more affordable for consumers and businesses alike’.
Despite to anticipated challenges, the Premier and Minister of Finance announced that Montserrat’s economy is expected to grow this fiscal year. ‘The current projection is 4% growth. There is, however, a peculiarity in economic terms. Montserrat’s economy is principally dominated by the Public Service, where budgetary assistance accounts for more than 60% of our recurrent revenues. This over-dependence undermines our fiscal self-reliance,’ explained Hon. Meade.
The budget estimate of XCD$311.78m covers recurrent and Capital Expenditure. Capital Expenditure totaling XCD$135.9million for this fiscal year will be allocated under the following classifications:
- Economic Infrastructure development of EC$66.51 million, 48.94%%,
- Social Infrastructure development of EC$60.83 million, 44.76%;
- Public Administration of $1.95 million 1.44%;
- Agriculture of EC$2.77 million, 2.04%,
- Statistical Research, Miscellaneous Projects and Other Programmes of EC$3.83 million 2.82%.
The funding support for the Capital budget is derived from the Foreign Commonwealth (FCDO),
Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the European Union (EU), The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) and other funding partners to include Darwin, Overseas Territories Environmental Programme (OTEP) and Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC).
The recurrent budget is used to facilitate salaries, wages, and operational expenses of the Ministries and Departments across government.
Full details on the 2025-26 Budget Presentation can be accessed on the Government of Montserrat website. To download and read the full Budget Statement visit www.gov.ms and click on the publications section, on the Ministry of Finance page.
Direct link for the budget statement:
https://www.gov.ms/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/2025-26-Budget-Speech-FINAL.pdf
View the budget presentation on the Government Information Unit’s YouTube channel:
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