ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada – The Grenada government will be presenting the 2020-21 national budget to Parliament on December 2.
It will be the first presentation by recently appointed Finance Minister, Gregory Bowen, who replaced Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell following the minor cabinet reshuffle in October.
The government has been forced to adjust its fiscal policy for the past year, given the coronavirus’s impact (COVID-19) on the local economy.
Government revenues declined by 50 percent during the early period of the pandemic, forcing the authorities to implement several measures, including a lockdown and a state of emergency.
The authorities were sad that while revenue is slowly increasing, there will still be a loss of more than EC$120 million (One EC dollar=US$0.37cents) according to a review of the monthly financial reports published on the government’s website.
Meanwhile, speaking at a town hall meeting here on Tuesday night, Minister responsible for Youth, Kate Lewis, said that while most government ministries will be receiving reduce financial allocations for 2021, the Youth Ministry will not be among them.
“As we read the budget next week, you will realize that while we are in a pandemic, while government revenues are lower than normal, while we are asking ministries to reduce or to have a cut in their budget, the division of youth will have an increase in its budget,” Lewis said.
“Thank you, Prime Minister, for giving us that extra amount of money; we know we have to be effective and efficient in its use,” she told the meeting.
Social Development Minister Delma Thomas also told the meeting that budget cuts would not affect the social safety networks.
“Next week is budget, and you will hear more of what we intend to share,” she added.
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