Fellow Virgin Islanders and Residents, A pleasant Good Day and God’s Blessings to you.

In keeping with my pledge to keep you informed of all matters that are likely to have significant impact on your lives and interests as citizens, I wish to say that today I will be leading a delegation of officials of the Government of the Virgin Islands to the United Kingdom (UK) to discuss the conditions of the loan guarantee, among other areas. 

De-risking continues to place excessive burdens on the region’s financial infrastructure and impedes our countries’ and territories’ abilities to effectively engage in global business and have sustainable economic growth. 

Virgin Islands Financial Institutions (VIFIs) are notified that the filing deadline for US FATCA and Common Reporting Standards for the 2018 reporting financial year has been extended to Wednesday July 31.

The Government of the Virgin Islands is on a mission to transition the Territory towards sustainable growth, according to Premier and Minister of Finance, Honourable Andrew A. Fahie.

Mr. Speaker, I move that the Bill shortly entitled the Appropriation Act, 2019 be read a second time and, in so doing, I invite this Honourable House to extend its customary indulgence in permitting me to deliver the 2019 Budget Address.

The Project Coordination Committee (PCC) met on Wednesday, March 27 to discuss updates on the Rehabilitation of "Other Government Buildings" projects financed by the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Loan (RRL).

Participants are featured at a Communications and Stakeholder Engagement training for the Project Unit of the Ministry of Finance on February 13.

Chairman of the Virgin Islands Insurance Tribunal, Mr. Jack Husbands has stated that the Insurance Tribunal has been very active and has settled 41 complaints.

Residents of Road Town and surrounding areas are featured at the first of the three Public Education and Awareness meetings  held to educate the public about the progress related to the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction (RRL) loan. The meeting was led by the Ministry of Finance, the Department of Disaster Management, and the United Nations Development Programme.

Contractors and consultants in the Territory are to be classified and graded in the soon to be launched Contractors Registration and Classification System (CRCS).