Governor John Rankin chaired a Cabinet meeting Sept. 8 at the Financial Services Commission Conference Room in Pasea. All members were present, and Cabinet took the following actions, according to a summary published in the Gazette on Sept. 23.

1. Decided that the Hotel Aid Licence for Peter Island (2000) Limited be amended to include an additional list of items for duty-free importation in accordance with the Hotel Aid Ordinance (CAP 290).

2. Decided that the Hotel Aid Licence for Bitter End Yacht Club Limited be amended to include an additional lists of items for dutyfree importation in accordance with the Hotel Aid Ordinance (Cap 290).

3. Noted the draft AECOM Report – BVI Port Preparedness Implementation Plan presented to Cabinet and that any portion of the recommendations of the report to be acted upon for implementation will be forwarded, as appropriate, to the Cabinet prior for approval.

4. Decided that the draft resolution requesting the following be introduced, by way of a motion, for approval at the next convenient sitting of the House of Assembly:

a. Recurrent expenditure of $28,950,428 to be expended in excess of the appropriated amount from the Consolidated Fund and to include the sums of: $840,000 to be transferred to the Environmental Protection and Tourism Improvement Fund; $2,313,103 to be transferred to the Miscellaneous Purposes Fund; $892,047 to be transferred to the Transportation Network Improvement Fund; $5,431,628 to be transferred from the Reserve Fund; $600,000 to be transferred from the Miscellaneous Purposes Fund for Foreign Scholarships; Capital Acquisition Expenditure of $4,804,100 to be expended in variation of the appropriated amount from the Development Fund of the Territory; and capital expenditure of $16,146,800 (which includes the sum of $70,000 from the Asset Seizure and Forfeiture Fund; and the sum of $8,556,555 from the Development Fund) to be expended in variation of the appropriated amount; and

b. noted that the payment of the 2018 increments for the 2017 work year is estimated at $6 million of which $4 million is expected to be disbursed in 2021, inclusive of social contributions and the balance of approximately $2 million will be paid in 2022 following the Department of Human Resources’ review and assessment of those officers with payroll anomalies for the 2017 work year.

5. Noted: a. that the Public Finance Management Act of 2012 mandates that the Annual Medium Term Fiscal Plan be updated annually and that the 2021 Semi-Annual MTFP now fulfils the requirement stated in Section 36 (C) (3) given that this is the first time since the implementation of the act that this is being adhered to;

b. that the approval of the government’s 2021 semi-annual MTFP update will put the territory on target that by the end of 2021 there will be no breaches in any of the ratios under the Protocols for Effective Financial Management agreed to with the United Kingdom in 2012; and

c. that the compliance with the ratios not only indicates the government’s continued commitment to its fiscal responsibilities but also to debt sustainability while avoiding deficit spending as is the case being currently experienced by most governments worldwide significantly due to Covid-19; and reviewed and:

i. approved the government’s 2021 semi-annual MTFP update; and

ii. decided that the 2021 semi-annual MTFP Update, inclusive of any amendments made by the Cabinet, be tabled as the final document at the next convenient sitting of the House of Assembly.

6. Approved “a number of ” non-belonger land holding licence applications.