Prime Minister Dr Godwin Friday
News
September 4, 2026
PRIME MINISTER Dr. Godwin Friday, on Thursday, August 27, 2026 told the House of Parliament that there was a decline in current revenue received for the period April 1 – July 31, 2026 when compared to the similar period in 2025. For the period April 1 – July 31, 2026 the current revenue received was $290.1 million, while for the similar period in 2025 the amount received was $324.38 million; a decline of 10.6 percent.
He was responding to a question posed by the Leader of the Opposition Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, which asked of the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance to provide the updated summary of the fiscal out-turn of the central government’s operations for the period April 1, 2026 to July 31, 2026, with comparative data for the same period in 2025.
Prime Minister Friday said the taxes on income and profit was positive at $69.72 million in 2026, compared to $69.02 million in 2025; while taxes on property for the 2026 period was $7.68 million, while $11.43 million was collected over the similar period in 2025.
The taxes collected on goods and services for the April 1 – July 31, 2026 period was $95.2
million compared to $103.7 million over the similar in 2025, while taxes on international trade amounted to $69.82 million over the 2026 period compared to $80.79 million in the same period in 2025.
Taxes on the sale of goods and services totalled $31.89 million in the period under review in 2026, while $37.69 was collected over the same period in 2025.
The current expenditure for the April 1 – July 31, 2026 period was $344.89, while it was $312.98 in 2025, with employee compensation accounting for the bulk of it- $134.91 million compared to $133.32 million in 2025.
For the use of goods and services it was $61.78 million compared to $48.61 million for the similar period in 2025, with interest payments amounting to $44.28 million compared to $37.92 million in 2025; while transfers in 2026 amounted to $103.92 million compared to $93.12 million in the similar period in 2025.
The prime minister told the House that “… overall the period April 1 – July 31, 2026 the government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines recorded an overall deficit of 57.78 million as compared to an overall deficit of 125.32 million for the same period in 2025”.
This higher capital revenue was mainly reflected in the $52.7 million that was received from the sale of lands in Chatham Bay in Union Island, and the decrease in capital expenditures which was
due to the completion of the modern port in 2025, and lower expenditures for Hurricane Beryl recovery.
During that same period, spending for major capital projects included strengthening the health resistance project which amounted to $12.5 million, capitalization of the contingency fund which amounted to $11.22 million, and spending on the national road rehabilitation project $6.08 million.
