St. Maarten News – Finance Minister Richard Gibson expects to deliver a balanced draft 2017 budget on time, despite the fact that the process to get there “has been a struggle because economically things are not what we expected them to be,” he said at yesterday’s Council of Ministers press briefing.
“My aim is to be on time and that the budget is balanced,” the minister said. Delivering the budget on time would be a first, not only in the history of country St. Maarten but in the history of the island territory as well.
Minister Gibson pointed out that the United States initially projected 3.5 percent economic growth for this year; later this was downgraded to 2.5 percent. “Now we hear that it is going to be a meager 1 percent. This concerns matters that we do not control, but they do affect people’s disposable income and they are curtailing travel plans. The only product we sell is tourism services, so there is some pressure.”
Nevertheless, the minister remains optimistic: “We are still very hopeful that we can produce a balanced budget for 2017 and that the projections we made for 2016 will also end up balanced.”
Source: Today SXM Budget 2017scheduled for timely presentation
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