Video: Public Meeting On Pre-Budget Report
The Pre-Budget Public Meeting is being held this evening [Jan 30], with Minister of Finance Curtis Dickinson and Junior Minister of Finance Wayne Furbert set to provide a presentation and answer queries.
A Government spokesperson previously said, “The public is invited to attend a meeting to discuss the Pre-Budget Report on Wednesday 30 January at 6pm in the Goodwin C. Smith Hall, Heritage Worship Centre, 59 Dundonald Street. Hamilton.
“Following a brief presentation attendees will have an opportunity to ask questions of the Minister of Finance, the Hon. Curtis L. Dickinson, JP, MP and Junior Minister of Finance, the Hon. Wayne Furbert, JP, MP.
“The Pre-Budget Report provides some insight into Government’s plans for the next fiscal year, which will be expanded in the annual Budget Statement which Minister Dickinson will deliver to the House of Assembly on 22 February.”
Our connection at the location is not ideal, so apologies in advance for what could be a less than stellar stream!
Update: The live broadcast has ended, and the 80-minute live video replay is below:
The full Pre-Budget Report follows below [PDF here]:
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Is that Wayne trying to speak?
Sorry but…..wtf are we paying him for?
Thank you PLP for Transparency and Open Dialogue, unlike those nitwits who signed a deal for de airport with lost revenue for 30 years, and a clause in the contract where their is no accountability and if Acon dont get their expected quota, we have to make it up for them.
There needs to be an investigation in this 5:00am shady deal.
How do you feel about the hospital wing which sees $30mn a year going to a private firm?
Plenty of investigations have been completed on the airport contract. It even received an award for its structure.
But stop deflecting, and tell us how you feel about your PLP’s proposed tax increases which will hit each and every Bermudian’s wallet. I dare you.
Aecon is right to have that in the contract. Do you know what PPP stands for?!?!?
the PLP while in opposition were given the contract to read and comment and did NOTHING. the contract even starts to PAY BDA money once it’s paid off so clearly the dimwits at the PLP spreading boycott to AC and ANY other tourism activity while the OBA was in govt was to stop us getting that dividend sooner. the more people that will use the airport the quicker it will be paid off. stupid is as the stupid PLP are….
To new and increased taxes.
Being more people onto the Island to share the burden.
We are broke!
That was kind of the elephant in the room wasn’t it. Curtis could say that we were broke but did not say how we got that way. I think he got an easy crowd tonight there could have been some much harder questions asked but he is lucky that the rent a crowd were not there to scream him down….Wayne was outstanding of course.
Indeed. How many people have left the island since 2008? By way of comparison, Cayman’s population has gone the other way.
Simple math will tell you a population of our size cannot sustain the PLP debt indefinitely, never mind the pension shortfall.
Throw in other factors, 17 years to agree a bus timetable, trash doesn’t get collected in the rain, Dept. of Immigration working against the interests of business, a xenophobic ruling party and Curtis’s answer is to tax those that remain more.
“Like most small states and territories, Bermuda’s economy is highly vulnerable to external events, underlining the need for financial and fiscal prudence. This vulnerability is compounded by Bermuda’s continuing budget deficits and high level of Government debt, which now stands at $2.46 billion.”
I think our domestic is higher than $2.46 billion, but ok.
“The Government should be accountable for developing strategies to cope with both domestic and international turbulence, and the strategies adopted should be transparent and open to criticism and comment. The Government should also be accountable for their execution.”
Agreed.
“The Government takes the position that while risks exist, it is critical that we invest in creating a more diversified economy …”
The Government takes the position that it should risk spending even more rather than paying down on the debt? Really?
”… which will create stronger economic growth for the island, as our ability to reduce our debt depends on being able to grow our economy and create more jobs in Bermuda”
I agree that creating more jobs is necessary, but who is going to fill those jobs and what is the nature of those jobs? Are those construction jobs for locals or executive jobs for ex pats? The statement is bare on detail.
What is unfortunately a reality is that this government really has no option they are on the edge of cliff …as they have no other way of growing their revenue Fintech isn’t turning into what Burt promised ( imagine that) and their inability to control Government spending ( another revelation).Tax Tax Tax so sorry but 25-11 = economic disaster for Bermuda.They talk about taxing rents that are over 22k so if your paying 1850 a month your landlord is going to taxed guess who’s rent is going up. This in turn will require you the rentee to need more income so long term your wages increase but that only means your services that you provided will cost more …starting to get the picture and we have only talked about the rent tax there are more
Without new investment , without more bodies on this island we will die a slow and painful death as a country….Third world might look good in another 6 years if you vote them back in again
“this government really has no option they are on the edge of cliff”
Umm, no. All Bermudians living in Bermuda, myself included, are on the edge of that cliff.
The people have voted. We want more taxes!
25-11
PLP have never been able to manage Public Finances. What a complete shatshow!!
The Finance Minister hasn’t been paying attention. Burt has invented a third leg of the economy, Fintech, which will expand the economy, employ thousands, and generate tax revenue.
Why hasn’t Burt mentioned this to his cabinet ministers? Dickinson and Furbert don’t seem aware of all this at all. How strange.
absolute sham!
Dickinson ‘wishes he had an America’s Cup.
Can you believe these people.
The part that scares me the most is the proposed further devaluation of the Bermuda dollar (or increase in FCPT). That is more likely to encourage people to get their money out of Bermuda before it is devalued even further.
That is the opposite of encouraging investment in Bermuda!