Surplus expectations fall to low of CI$3.3M
(CNS): Financial Secretary Ken Jefferson admitted to parliament on Tuesday that the government might be sailing very close to the wind with the revised expectations on this year’s budget. Spending by the end of this year is expected to reach over CI$1.03 billion, an unprecedented amount, leaving the government with a surplus of just $3.3 million and a very narrow window to stay in the black.
As Premier Wayne Panton, as finance minister, opened a Finance Committee meeting Tuesday morning, he said the government was making a request of CI$68.8 million in supplementary appropriations for the rest of this year. Last month, he asked the civil service to cut spending during the remainder of this year by 8.5%, but despite concerns about runaway expenditure, the government still needed to appropriate more money.
This is to cover, among other things, around CI$19 million more for the education budget and more than CI$31 million for the ever-growing local and overseas healthcare bills for the under- and uninsured.
MPs met yesterday for the first time since the parliament was abruptly adjourned on Friday afternoon after Dwayne Seymour announced his departure from the PACT Government, but during the meeting, there was no mention of his resignation or who would be taking up the vacant Ministry of Border Control and Labour.
Sitting on the opposition benches for the first vote of CI$2.2 million, Seymour, along with all of the other opposition members, abstained. However, he was not seen in the chamber of the House again during the Finance Committee meeting.
Before the members began questioning the government about each of the requested appropriations, the premier revealed that instead of the original core government surplus of over $27 million, they were now expecting just CI$3.3 million.
The budget has been revised several times over the course of this year, as both revenue and spending have increased. Explaining the financial implications of the latest revision, Panton said the projections called for core government revenue to be CI$1.033 billion and for the operating expenditure with the additional appropriations to be $1.03 billion.
Opposition members pressed the premier on details about the current state of public finances, especially the many changes and additional appropriations that have been signed off so far this year. Chris Saunders MP (BTW) noted that expenditure was not expected to exceed a billion dollars until 2026 and asked exactly how much was approved to be spent in 2023, as he warned that public spending was “getting really scary”.
This started a long exchange between opposition members and the financial secretary, who detailed the movement of money over the last two years, including $76 million carried over from 2022. He pointed out that an additional $104 million had been appropriated for this year.
Jefferson said it was very rare for all of the money that is requested to actually be spent, which means it is likely that the surplus will be considerably more by the end of the year, but it was still possible that it all could be spent.
Sir Alden McLaughlin MP (RED) asked Jefferson if, as a veteran of public finances, he was “comfortable sailing so close to the wind” and about the risk of the government ending up with a deficit.
“Of course it’s not comfortable sailing that close to the wind, as three million is neither here nor there in terms of a surplus, as it could easily turn into a break-even position. But… the $3.3 million surplus is based on every single dollar being requested actually being spent, but our experience is that is not going to occur,” Jefferson said.
He noted that in 2022, just over half of the money in supplementary requests was spent. Panton added that the government was making an effort to make appropriate spending cuts and helping civil servants to reduce expenditure and that he was expecting an under-spend.
During the course of the committee hearing, the opposition abstained from every vote for supplementary funds, including the money for scholarships, the Cayman Islands Fire Service and hospital bills.
See the full proceedings on CIGTV below:
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid
Category: Government Finance, Politics
Over 30,000 dollars per year of Government expenditure per Caymanian living on the Islands, and some still complain about expats. Government is too big, becoming a socialist trap very quickly, if we don’t go back to a smaller Government we will collapse, growing population is not a solution, is a meare palliative with serious side effects.
just to do a tiny bit of math: $3million divided by 80,000 people is $37.5 in “surplus” per resident on this island…for the YEAR.
If you assumed that the revenue came for a duty-paid import at 22% that means that the surplus per person is equivalent to a purchased item of $170 brought into this country. I know that’s a huge over-simplification of our government’s revenue stream but it means that if I personally avoid $170 in spending then my “piece” of that surplus is gone. If my wife and kids do the same then all the surplus associated with our family’s revenue generation are gone.
If you assume the revenue is on a hotel room taxed at 14% then it means if one tourist spends one less day @ $267 per room-night…then one more resident’s “surplus” is gone.
This surplus is the thinnest of razor thin margins and it will take virtually NOTHING for it to evaporate. If the prices of imports or the volume of imports dips every so slightly it’s gone.
Sorry, you are using Cayman educated math. The CIG has BLOWN through a HUGE amount of surplus cash in 2 yrs, with NO benefit to the electorate (I know I am SHOUTING, I’M NOT HAPPY…). With the expected decline in financial revenues, Cayman budget is screwed. CIG funded services is screwed. CIG citizens are screwed. When the financial fall hits there will be ample screaming from sources that were told it was coming. I’ve been told to leave as I am an expat from 1986 that cares little – I care A LOT and cry for Cayman as it has no leadership that is educated enough and ethical enough and moral enough to lead this territory.
Itās worth repeating that these jokers are spending a BILLION DOLLARS EVERY YEAR.
Of OUR money!
*typo..Not an INCOME problem.
a spending crisis!
World Class
To hear the PACT mouthpiece Cayman Marlroad try and convince us that the PPM should have voted for this foolishness is appalling! She knows better but must do what the Master bids. Cayman has sunk to a new low with Pantin Panton at the top. Please Newlands wake up!
Cut every single one of those self serving MPs’ salary in half.
Doing so, will show who is in it for the love of the country.
None of them their big fat paychecks.
But if you halve their salary, theyāll be driving an illegal over 7 year old vehicle to save cash, and crash it into a light pole drunk more often?
I’m sure 40% of those spending is from NAU helping lazy ppl that don’t want to work and baby mommas that get pregnant for 5 different wasteman baby daddies and put it the responsibility to NAU.
So what’s your point?
The PACT government has done nothing but spend, spend, spend and have absolutely nothing to show for it. Get in – get out and leave nothing behind. The piggy bank will be empty. When they took office there was a healthy surplus as well as a $300M line of credit that was intended for ’emergencies’ lord forbit we have a hurricane or some other disaster, because that money is GONE. Wayne has asked the UK government to allow Cayman to borrow over the FFR and if that happens we are done. I beg the UK to say NO to more borrowing.
STOP the nonsense – #EarlyElection #NoMorePACT
#worldclassmyass!
š š š š
Little wonder. Jay has NRA paving driveways and church parking lots in NS – a la Julianna!
And widening the Queen’s Highway, that should solve the gridlock issue at least.
Check which company is doing the work for the NRA on Queenās Highway.
Just a matter of interest which company is doing the work for the NRA on the Queenās highwayā¦?..anyone know..?
Asking for many many friends..
Lunatics running the asylum. Terrifying.
sell the turtle farm and sell CAL
CAL has no value on paper (negative value in real terms)
It would be impossible to value it as no financials are audited or even exist outside of what is needed to show govt how much they need next month to cover payroll and vendor costs (fuel/foreign airport fees).
Any holes are plugged by the government in brackets.
The aircraft are leased and will be parked if that lease isnāt paid and the CAA would have no choice but to do that or they are in contravention of the Cape Town Convention which they subscribe to which validates them as a safe registry.
The only value is itās name and routes which have little value outside of Cayman(maybe a couple JFK or LAX or MIA slots)
CAL will remain a forever responsibility to us
With that said they do a good job re training and safety and its crews are very experienced and I feel safe on themā¦..there are little to no short cuts on safety as they are subsidized so take it for thatā¦..could it be leaner? Letās just say KX is like an extra fatty ribeye š
As far as I know CAL has an external GAAP/GAAS audit done every year.
Truman Bodden: āMr Speaker, Iām pleased to announce that Cayman Airways has made a substantial profit after subsidyā.
Truman Bodden doesnāt have anything to do with any of the PACTās, PPMās or UDPās failures.
When Truman Bodden left office as Leader of Government Business in 2000, he left the Cayman Islands with a 8 digit surplus.
indeed. has anyone seen the last set? CAL doesnt seem to publish them on ots website for some reason.
every word is true! well spoken.
Kenneth spent the weekend trying to overthrow Wayne and then shows up the Parliament in his cheerleader outfit. This man is two faced and cannot be trusted. He is not of good character and now I hope Wayne has taken note!
You canāt expect āGood characterā from someone whose resume reads āDrug dealerā
And puts on a Facebook live to stream himself fake crying over a mother that couldn’t afford food.
Days after I see this man in the Red Bay Gas Station going off on the worker about something to do with his food order.
Man is a as fake as it gets.
You know this how?
Ok 12.31..you tell me, after years as an MP, tell us what has this fool achieved, other than illegal billboards and a LOT of hot air.
Poor attempt at deflection.
Prove your assertion/accusation or just label it as you think.
Is this āsurplusā before capital expenditure, bond interest, subsidies to government owned entities, and movements in unfunded liabilities by any chance?
Or provision for unbudgeted expenditures such as litigation losses.
So they pissed it all away within 2 1/2 years. Hardly surprising.
Canāt say you werenāt warned.
The Regressives would’ve spent it all in 6 just months Bobo. They the best spenders and concession givers ever.
12.34pm Yet they left a Surplus and a line of credit for an emergency which PACT promptly spent for day-to-day expenses.
These clowns could sink a titanic without an ice berg
Spending like kids in a toy shop without a care or plan in the world.
Ive come to the conclusion not one person is capable of for ing and running correctly any kind of administration.
I think the extra 3.3mil should be be used to give bonuses to our honorable members of parliament to acknowledge and recognize them for the tireless hard work they do on our behalf. Thanks CIG.
I recognise the sarcasm and humour, however it should be noted that the 3.3 million is NOT “extra”. It is the thin margin on the greatly modified balance sheet which requires the “supplementary appropriations”.
If we put this in terms that apply to you and me personally, it would be as if we projected our earnings in a perfect world in the next year, and arrived at a dollar amount above that which we KNOW we have to pay. Then, we take that dollar amount to the bank and borrow a great amount in which our projected earnings can expect to pay the minimum monthly vig.
Who in their right might would approve such a loan? It would never happen for you or me. Only those in control of great amounts of spending can even hope to acheive such fluffery… and make no mistake. Fluffery is all it is. It is hoping against hope that incoming funds equal their lofty projections, and that the various institutions allow the loans based upon their projects.
Hell of a way to run a country.
Might as well report a deficit. $3.3M is peanuts when weāve got grubby, greedy hands in the pot. One padded project for a politicianās buddy and itās gone in less time than you can say surplus.
I’m thinking about driving at 70 mph everywhere because my experience is I’m not going to get caught.
If you do get pulled over just give Wayne a call and explain that you were working late at the office
What about the $35 million+ paid to CAL in2022 to keep them in the air, and they still made a loss -how much, we don’t know as their accounts are still under wraps!.
Shhhhh, the huge annual subsidy and write-off of landing fees is not to be discussed.
Since Saunders was relieved of his job as finance minister we have been without a finance minister. Wayne is not qualified to be a finance minister. They should have appointed Roy McTaggart as finance minister but of course God forbid that they would ask him. Right now he is the only one among the group qualified to do that job.
Same Roy McTaggart who didn’t even have a record of the value of concessions given away to foreign developers under his tenure?
No, thank you.
no need for the glass half empty, Barbados flight will bump them into surplus ; )
That is not enough Jaybird to finished all the roadwork before Christmas. I guess no pre Christmas cleanup this year.
7.40am I guess the “Link Rd” ending on N Church St has now become the “Sink Rd”.
Donāt forget we need 22M CI for sand for the south end of SMB that Mother Nature will then redistribute to the north end of SMB. More beach for me ššš
Where is the oversight? In the last two weeks alone, CNS has reported numerous instances of wasted money and impropriety by government employees, yet there are no investigations, no sanctions just the same old same old ignore, avoid and deflect.
Perhaps the septuagenarian leader of the anti corruption unit or Madame Auditor can explain what they are doing to earn their inflated salaries!
2.39ā¦..Oversight is expected from the Auditor general, but Mrs Winspear is regularly ignoredā¦all she can do is present her reports and findings in the hope that those in power will take appropriate action.
Unfortunately this principled professional is regularly sidelined by self important board members, or by the politicians who support their self serving greed.
And seemingly ignored by the Governor, and by the UK, who are supposed to guarantee our āGood Governance.ā
7.30pm Praise the Lord, even God could not guarantee good governance by our elected politicians.
Iām much more worried about the civil service, than I am any politician.
True. Those workers can easily slip into a Go SLOWER Drive anytime.
see how quick Premier had to retract or clarify publicly that NO salary cuts, within hours of saying
remember the anti corruption unit are too busy carrying out a thorough and transparent investigation on themselves to take on any additional work. another cig department that might as well be mothballed.
The auditor general’s job is like Gina’s at the DOE. They do their jobs as mandated to do, they give their reports, give their opinions but nothing is done, nothing is put in place to rectify the gaps and mismanagement. Those in charge of the ministeries either don’t understand the reports or don’t give a rats behind and there is no one to check them on it. We will never again see a surplus as long as the pack of wolves are in charge. Most of them cannot comprehend ever being in charge of millions of dollars so they do not know how to fiscally manage it. They still believe that money grow on trees and that it really was the tooth fairy who tooth their tootth from under the pillow and put a sixpence in its place.
All it takes is one or two law changes in the US, UK, Asia to make the financial services tap in the Cayman Islands run dry. The CIG should have planned for this contingency years ago by setting up a sovereign wealth fund and better diversifying the economy.
The way this country’s budget is run is analogous to an individual living paycheck to paycheck and being one unfortunate event away from financial disaster.
Did you watch by any chance GOP’s second primary debate?
This was the U.S. political clown show. All came with PR firm canned responses and āgotchaā one-liners that sound like they were picked up on the third grade playground.
Cayman politicians aren’t much different. I bet they don’t even know what
sovereign wealth fund is.
Do you remember before the internet, that people thought the cause of stupidity was the lack of information?…..Yeah….it wasn’t that.
Yea, I watched it. Had to take my pressure medd so I could fall asleep. No consolation but they are as bat crazy as ours.
3.3m is enough to get a recurring flight to Tristan da Cunha going, or maybe Pitcairn?
So maybe thatās why the Minister for Finance skedaddled. He had already let go of the purse strings. Was he the one who said there would be the big surplus?
He needs to show us where he put it then.
1.46pm They would have to stop in the Brac first.
Kenny Beach and Kenny World will take care of that surplus in the blink of an eye.
You forgot Kenny’s immigration reform.
The lawsuits wonāt be cheap for certain.
Legal funding request from the CPA to take the NCC to Privy Council- a monumental waste of government funds to benefit private interests.
Hope the Auditor General and the Attorney General are keeping a close eye.
And just wait until the payout to Doctor’s Express is awarded.
That litigation as well as other Causes are going to burn a massive hole in the public purse, which all arose as a result of public officials acting unlawfully and unconstitutionally.
Which they continue to do. With impunity.
None of which has been budgeted or appropriated, so Ken Jefferson’s “its ok people spend less than is appropriated” theory is worth about as much as the budget can be assumed to be accurate.
Why don’t all these burned out useless politicians just sail on off into the sunset on the good ship Alden and do us all a big favor.
And take the over rated CPA along with them!
PPM – true statesmen & woman for the Cayman Islands! When do we put up their statues in Heroes Square?
I’m truly hoping that’s a sarcastic commentš.
Well, they did leave a hefty surplus! When this bunch go what will they leave? Just asking for my long departed grandpa
given undeclared liabilities the ‘surplus’ is and always was fake news.
But Kenneth is paying for tourists who made negative social media videos about their trip to come back to Cayman on government’s dime
The department of Tourism should take immediate steps to make sure the offender doesnāt upset any other visitors.
Heās making it Kennyās personal show rather than a matter of great concern for our tourism productā¦.
I saw the US guy’s video and thought the comments were very valid. In fact I totally agreed with him. About time government heard a few home truths. They usually hurt but big people listen learn adapt and evolve.
Imagine if our politicians and Civil Service big wigs had put in place a savings fund back in 1970. Even 1980 or 1990. What a pile of cash that would be. Earning interest and paying dividends.
But every penny must be spent (they are even pillaging the EPF whenever possible). And what do we have to show for it? You would think with all the cash thrown about over the last half century Cayman would have first world public systems and infrastructure.
The flow of cash annually is not guaranteed. Let’s not continue to behave like a wild west gold rush town.
Please cut off Julianna’s credit cards. She just loves loves loves spending other people’s money on her pet projects. Fire her immediately and cancel ALL of her spending plans and we’ll be back in the black immediately with large surpluses.
And please put a stop to the Kenny & Rosa rich people air terminal!
But Kenny needs Rich people terminal for his ego free rides on shiny jets, and oh by the way have you met my favorite realtor, in case you need a condo here.
All those new roads on the bluff canāt be cheap
funny thing is…knives are out for wayne literally a week afer he called for budget reductions and limiting the expansion of the civil service…..the only sense he has talked in 2 years!
welcome to wonderland.
Think of it, these jokers are spending a BILLION dollars every year!
Great gig for Lodge members. Perhaps when re-writing office holder eligibility laws, they can eliminate the cultist masons.
They spend a lot but that’s incorrect. The budget is a 2 year forecast so 550+ per annum is still crazy.
Actually its $1 Billion a year
A US billion or a British billion?
KYD$1,000,000,000
~US$1,200,000,000.00.
PLUS 10% for the new prison of courseā¦.
It sure is amazing that we as a nation can collect so much money that the government can spend as much as they do with as little oversight as they have and we still end up with millions of dollars in surplus, yet the poverty line keeps climbing.
With that kind revenue this Little Rock should be the grandest! We should have the best education system, best prison service and police service, best health service, best waste management etc. etc. Where has all the money gone?
direct rule for 2 years while a new raft of political candidates are selected/vetted based on qualifications, experience and integrity. then we have new elections.
time for class action lawsuit against the incompetence of the civil service and cig.
Good idea – if the UK were any positive example, which they haven’t been for quite some time now. Sad š
Funny to hear you geniuses clamoring for a class action lawsuit in virtually every article, but none of you have the huevos to actually file for one. Why is that?
free money making solutions:
allow sunday trading
bring in weed tourism(to protect the fine caymanian christian ‘heritage’, only tourists and expats are allowed purchase)
bring in casinos at top hotels (to protect the fine caymanian christian ‘heritage’. only tourists and expats are allowed)
treble all traffic fines
treble duty on cigarettes
implement any recommendation of miller-shaw or e&y reports.
sell loss making cayman airways
sell loss making turtle farm
sell goab
double stamp duty for non-resident property purchasers
the scariest thing is that these poorly educated fools are blowing a billion dollars a year with nothing to show for it…..
if you think Cayman has nothing to show for our budgets, I suggest you take a few days off and travel to other island in the Caribbean where comparitevely Cayman is a utopia
Cayman isn’t perfect by any means but people who act as if this is a failed state are stretching hyperbole to its natural limits.
The real issue in Cayman is that very little of the budgets are used for honest long-term investments in our people / infrastructure which would be not only good investments but entirely permissible.
I don’t give a rats ass whether the surplus is 3 million or 100 million as it has been in years past – Cayman needs to stop giving concessions to developers and start focusing on lowering the cost of living and ensuring that Cayman is a viable place for Caymanians to live into the future
We can only imagine how much better off we would be if our finances were not wasted but well managed.
If public spending is measured by household, CI $1.03 billion is around $35,000 per household (based on 2021 census figures). How does this compare to previous years/administrations?
Can you calculate per citizen?
CI$1030000000/85000 = CI$11,800. Every man, woman and child.
Perfect time to subsidize a money losing flight by KX to Barbados. Of course we will never know given “commercial sensitivities”.
$3.3 million surplus is based on every single dollar being requested actually being spent, but our experience is that is not going to occur,ā Jefferson said.
I guess Ken is not familiar with the abilities of his namesake.
The salaries, new hires and stipend increases at the Port Authority should take care of any anticipated surplus.
Madam Auditor general, you interested in whatās going on there..?
Whatās going on there and at the HSA where I hear a scandal is brewing over the same concern.
Yup. Just the consultants fees for the not needed new $100,000,000 Northward Hilton are more than double the surplus you hope to have.
Fiscal prudence , really..?
Wayne, you know wa gwan under your nose.?
Are you jokingā¦.?
$100,000,000 , plus annual running costs, maintenance, salaries, utilities food expenses etc.,ā¦just so our criminals can be housed and fed in more comfortable modern accommodations.?
Well thatās going to be a REAL deterrent to crime..!
No – wait until the $10,000,000 refunds have to be paid to those unlawfully delayed in their status applications. That is before the damages claims.
Who would that be?
Don’t you worry yourself, these clowns will blow thru that little amount of money like a runny nose into a Kleenex tissue!
Only trouble isā¦itās OUR effing money theyāre blowing , and all without a care in the world, because they have secured their futures.
$3.3 million is woefully low! Heck that would be low for Fosters, Hurleys, Kirks, ALT, I am sure they would be seriously checking and re- checking their business plans if they were in this situation. With CIG it is just another day in “wonderland”. This is real scary!