London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 24, 2025

Minister presents billion dollar budgets

Minister presents billion dollar budgets

Finance Minister Roy McTaggart has forecast that the government will collect CI$825 million in revenue during 2020 and spend almost $760 million in its first ever US$1 billion budget. But that record-breaking earnings and expenditure will be broken again in 2021, when the minister is predicting the government will collect almost CI$850 million in revenue and spend in excess of a whopping CI$774.4 million across the two-year billion dollar budget.

In his Budget Address delivered in the Legislative Assembly on Friday, McTaggart said that the strong revenue position and spending plan reflected Cayman’s track record of economic growth, which is expected to continue. He said the budget complied with the law and was fiscally prudent without increasing the tax burden on Caymanian families. With no new cursive revenue measures and no borrowing, the minister pointed to existing revenue flows as the source of the historic record-breaking budget.

In both years core government is expected to deliver significant surpluses, despite the high spending. McTaggart is forecasting a surplus of $65.3 million in 2020 and $75.3 million in 2021, which he said would help with the track record of making capital investments from cash without the need to borrow.

However, he noted that the surpluses in both years would be less overall as a result of significant losses from the government’s collection of money at statuary authorities and government companies. The SAGCs are expected to deliver losses of around $17 million in both years due to losses at Cayman Airways and significant costs to government for health care.

McTaggart said that the forecasts are conservative, as his ministry has had one eye on emerging indications that there could be a global economic slowdown during this budget period. Brexit, the US-China trade war, disruptive public protests and impacts of natural catastrophes may fuel the slowdown and were some of the risks his ministry considered when setting the budget.

“I can assure the House that the 2020–2021 Budgets have taken these global factors into account as best we can, given the uncertainties,” he said, adding that he was, however, not going to be a “prophet of doom” about the future.

“There is every reason to believe that Cayman is in a good position to weather any coming economic storm. There are, after all, many things which are positive in our local economy. The Cayman Islands are currently enjoying a period of great economic prosperity,” he said, as he pointed to several consecutive years of solid, sustained economic growth, with an average annual growth rate of 3% led by the private sector.

Confident that this would continue for Cayman, he said government would remain cognizant of what is happening around the world, but the strength and robustness to Cayman’s economy was the the envy of many in the region.

That was underscored by the summary McTaggart gave for the end of year figures for 2019, which have provided the basis for the next two-year budget. The budget for this year is on track, he told parliament, to deliver better than budgeted results.

Operating revenues are forecast to be $824.2 million, well over $100 million more than had been predicted in the original budget.

“These results point to healthy performance in our core economic sectors and demonstrate how the healthy Cayman economy benefits all Caymanians through the increased revenue yields that government can then spend on vital public services. This is the strong economy, working for you,” the minister said.

Government spent $85 million more than the $657.8 million forecasted, but the revenue windfall has kept the pubic purse in the black. The bulk of the extra cash was spent on government workers and healthcare.

SAGCs are also expected to have lost around $6.5 million for the year ending 31 December 2019, compared to an original budgeted loss of $5.8 million. But the result is that government will end the year with an $80 million surplus, $15 million more than forecast.

With almost $438.3 million in the bank when it pays off part of the CI$261.3 million bullet bond due at the end of this month, government’s debt will have fallen below the amount of money it has in the bank for the first time in decades. It is, however, re-borrowing more than half of than bullet bond with a new $153 million loan.



Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
China and Russia Deploy Seductive Espionage Networks to Infiltrate U.S. Tech Sector
Apple’s ‘iPhone Air’ Collapses After One Month — Another Major Misstep for the Tech Giant
Graham Potter Begins New Chapter as Sweden Head Coach on Short-Term Deal
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa Alleges Poison Plot via Chocolate and Jam
Lakestar to Halt External Fundraising as Investor in Revolut and Spotify
U.S. Innovation Ranking Under Scrutiny as China Leads Output Outputs but Ranks 10th
Three Men Arrested in London on Suspicion of Spying for Russia
Porsche Reverses EV Strategy as New CEO Bets on Petrol and Hybrids
Singapore’s Prime Minister Warns of ‘Messy’ Transition to Post-American Global Order
Andreessen Horowitz Sets Sights on Ten-Billion-Dollar Fund for Tech Surge
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
‘Frightening’ First Night in Prison for Sarkozy: Inmates Riot and Shout ‘Little Nicolas’
White House Announces No Imminent Summit Between Trump and Putin
US and Qatar Warn EU of Trade and Energy Risks from Tough Climate Regulation
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Nicolas Sarkozy begins five-year prison term at La Santé in Paris
Japan stocks surge to record as Sanae Takaichi becomes Prime Minister
This Is How the 'Heist of the Century' Was Carried Out at the Louvre in Seven Minutes: France Humiliated as Crown with 2,000 Diamonds Vanishes
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
×