Legislators began Standing Finance Committee deliberations as scheduled Thursday, according to House of Assembly staff.
During the meetings, legislators hear from department heads and permanent secretaries regarding their funding requests for the year.
With slow growth predicted globally for 2012, this year will bring “tremendous challenges” in the Virgin Islands, said Premier Dr. Orlando Smith, who is also minister of finance, during his budget address Jan. 17.
Dr. Smith promised the SFC would scrutinise many contracts and cut the territory’s operations budget by $11.8 million dollars.
SFC deliberations generally last about two or three weeks and are closed to the public. After they’re over, officials typically release a 400-to-500-page edited report summarising the debates.