Government Finance
CIG records half-year surplus of $166M
(CNS): Despite spending some $15 million more than expected in the budget by the halfway point of this year government has maintained an overall healthy surplus. According to the latest unaudited financial report to the end of June, the public purse has a CI$166.2 million surplus, $22.7 million more than budgeted for the first six […]
Reporting $2.1B liability would create huge deficits
(CNS): Financial Secretary Kenneth Jefferson has said that putting the Cayman Islands Government’s future liability for post-retirement civil service healthcare costs firmly on its books would create massive annual deficits for public finances. But until it fully reports and accounts for these future expenses, the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) will continue to give […]
Public cash pays for failed health insurance system
(CNS): With many local people still either uninsured or under-insured, the government’s healthcare bill is climbing while the local health insurance sector continues to make a profit as companies cherrypick their customers. Earlier this month, Cabinet approved another CI$13.5 million of public cash to cover healthcare costs this year for indigents and for those with […]
McTaggart calls for 58% rise in payments to seniors
(CNS): Opposition Leader Roy McTaggart has called on the Cayman Islands Government to use the surplus it expects to have at the end of this budget cycle to fund a 58% increase in the ex gratia benefits paid to seafarers, veterans, their spouses and retired civil servants on inadequate pensions. The PPM leader said society […]
PACT took ‘heat’ for social spending, Panton says
(CNS): Premier Wayne Panton has admitted that the PACT Government “took heat” from both sides of the political landscape for using public cash to help people navigate the cost of living crisis. While overspending will put the economy and the country’s fiscal independence at risk, tough decisions have had to be made to help people […]
Cayman maintains Moody’s Aa3 credit rating
(CNS): International credit rating agency Moody’s has given the Cayman Islands economy a thumbs up. Along with a stable economic outlook report, the government maintained its Aa3 bond issuer rating and Aaa country ceiling rating in a report issued on Thursday, 8 June. Cayman’s stable political environment, policy continuity, sound fiscal management, and economic growth […]
Gov’t surplus surges to record high in first quarter
(CNS): The unaudited financial results for the first three months of this year show that core government has racked up a record surplus of $235 million. The Cayman Islands Government collected $22.6 million more than expected, and public spending was lower than forecast, putting it in an optimistic position, according to a release. But the […]
Civil servants could get 13% raise over 3 years
(CNS): Chris Saunders (BTW), now an independent MP who sits on the opposition benches, managed to steer through his private member’s motion calling for a significant increase in government workers’ wages last week, something he had sought to support in the budget preparations before he lost his job as finance minister. The government agreed to […]
Saunders challenges ‘sustainability’ of PACT
(CNS): In his first address to parliament from the opposition benches since being fired from the PACT Cabinet, Chris Saunders (BTW) challenged the sustainability of some of the Cayman Islands Government’s fiscal and political plans. Sustainability has been billed as a major component of this government, but the now estranged independent MP said revenue derived […]
Public spending expected to reach over $1B by 2026
(CNS): Core government expenditure will exceed CI$1 billion by 2026, Premier Wayne Panton revealed in his Strategic Policy Statement delivered in the House of Parliament Wednesday. According to the document that sets out the government’s proposed spending plans for the rest of this administration and beyond, well over $3 billion in revenue is expected to […]
CIG collects record-breaking CI$1 billion in revenue
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Government collected over one billion dollars in fees and revenue last year for a record-breaking budget. According to the 2022 unaudited financial results, the year ended with a central government surplus of $47.7 million after earning CI$80 million more than it had projected in the original budget. Overall, despite high levels […]
