Issued by: Governor’s Office

In response to enquiries received following the statement in regard of the budget issued by the Honourable Premier yesterday, the Governor has issued the following statement:

“I have seen reports of a statement issued by the Honourable Premier on the budget yesterday. I think it would be helpful to clarify that negotiations on the budget with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) are ongoing: we do not yet have an agreed budget.

The FCO’s Economic Advisor sent to the Cayman Islands by the Minister for the Overseas Territories, Henry Bellingham, to work with the Cayman Islands Government on the budget has returned to London but remains fully engaged in the process.

He has set out to the Cayman Islands Government the broad framework for a sustainable and credible budget. He would need to see a draft budget which fits that framework before he could recommend to Minister Bellingham that he approve it.

He has made clear that he would expect the Cayman Islands Government to achieve this through a combination of expenditure savings and measures to raise revenue: the precise nature of these is largely a matter for the Cayman Islands Government but they must be credible and sustainable.

At this time, the Economic Advisor is still awaiting detailed proposals on the budget from the Cayman Islands Government.”