The Honourable Premier and Minister of Finance, Mrs. Cora Richardson-Hodge said she is proud that her administration had been able to deliver on their main campaign promise of GST Relief to Anguilla’s people. The Premier made the statement as she closed the Budget Debate in the House of Assembly on Wednesday evening, November 19th.
“I am heartened by the fact that we have been able to deliver on our single largest promise at the six-month mark of being in office. We do not intend to stay here,” she said, “for we have so many other things to do…some of our plans are moving quickly, while some are going to take some time, but this administration is committed to ensuring that the plans as set out in this budget will come to fruition.”
She explained that total revenue for the fiscal year 2026 is projected at approximately EC$597.4 Million, representing a 6% increase over the 2025 forecast. She indicated that recurrent revenue is expected to reach EC$595.9 Million compared to EC$460.4 Million forecasted for 2025. This will be driven by the current recovery of key sectors, improvements in compliance, and sustained activity in tourism services and construction.
“This budget is an ambitious budget,” the Premier admitted. “We thought that the 2025 Budget was quite ambitious, but this 2026 Budget is even more ambitious. But we have made this budget and passed it in the House, understanding the challenges that we would have to overcome in order to bring this budget to fruition. We know that we have to ascertain that our various Departments have the manpower and resources in order to ensure that they can succeed with respect to the agenda of each ministry.”
She acknowledged that certain projects will have to be brought forward more quickly than others. “For example,” she said, “the extension of the airport runway. This has to be done. Therefore, we have to move quickly towards land acquisition. That was not in place [in the last budget] so we have to put it in place. And we are committed to doing so.”
She insisted that there is no aspect of the budget that her administration is shirking away from. “We are committed to it,” she said, “and we intend to move forward as quickly and as aggressively as possible.”
The Premier indicated that while capital expenditure takes up a huge chunk of the budget, due to the airport project, over the next two years or so, there will be a gradual decrease.
“I am heartened to say that despite the large capital expenditure of EC$233 Million for 2026, in 2027 with the completion of many of these projects, we expect the capital expenditure to decrease to approximately EC$198 Million, and then in 2028 there will be even a further decrease to approximately EC$178 Million. So, this spike in 2026 represents a number of projects that are now being continued from the previous administration which we are obligated to carry on with.”
The Budget Debate ended on Wednesday evening, November 19th with Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Departments answering pertinent financial questions from Members of the House. The Budget, which is formally entitled “The Bill for Appropriation 2026 Act” was passed in the House of Assembly on Wednesday, November 19th, 2025.
