On Monday, June 8th, the Honourable Premier and Minister of Finance, Cora Richardson-Hodge, presented a supplementary budget bill in the House of Assembly to make provision for public service salary increases.
The Premier indicated that while the 2026 budget which was presented last October originally stood at EC$631.149 Million, the addition of the supplementary budget which amounts to EC$26.483 Million now takes the entire revised 2026 budget to EC$657.632 Million.
The Premier stated: “This supplementary budget is not a departure from the Government’s fiscal strategy. It is not a broad new spending programme. The central purpose of this supplementary budget is to move funds from the central provision to the relevant ministries and departments in order to meet the salary differential and associated employment costs arising from the Public Sector Compensation Review.”
She continued: “Some may ask: since provision for compensation reform was already contemplated in the original 2026 budget, why is a supplementary budget necessary? The answer is that a ‘central provision’ is not the same as an ‘allocation’ to every ministry and department.
“The compensation funding was held under the Ministry of Finance’s Restricted Expenditure Account, while the detailed post-by-post calculations and implementation schedules were being finalized. That was a control measure to ensure that funds were not distributed before the salary differential, payroll implications and departmental allocations were properly validated.”
“Now that the work has advanced,” she said, “the compensation funding must be moved from that central holding provision to heads and departments where the expenditure will actually be incurred. And that movement is substantial…”
She stressed: “The Financial Administration and Audit Act makes clear that reallocations cannot occur between recurrent and capital expenditure. In this case, the movement required from the Ministry of Finance to the relevant ministries and departments is beyond what should properly be treated as a routine internal reallocation.”
“It is therefore appropriate,” she said, “that the matter be brought squarely before this Honourable House. This supplementary budget allows the House to see clearly what is being moved, what is being increased, where expenditure will be charged, and how the revised estimates will be aligned with actual implementation.”
She also pointed out that while the largest and most sensitive element of the Supplementary Budget is attributed to the implementation of the revised compensation framework for the Anguilla Public Service, yet the supplementary budget does more than redistribute compensation funded. She explained that it also addresses urgent and essential expenditure needs including: health; energy; policing; and capital reallocation.
“So this Supplementary Budget is not a duplication,” she stated. “It is the proper legal and budgetary process for moving from a centrally held provision to clear, authorized and accountable expenditure under the relevant votes.”
That is how transparency is protected,” the Premier and Minister of Finance affirmed.
By: James R. Harrigan
