PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten’s Parliament and government have been put on notice and given the deadline of midnight on May 8 to deliver an approved budget for 2018.
Finance Minister Mike Ferrier told Parliament this afternoon this deadline was communicated to the Council of Ministers today in a meeting with Dutch Justice Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus and Dutch State Secretary for Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops.
Ferrier said he “foresees an instruction if we fail to meet this May 8 deadline.”
Members of Parliament (MPs) were again called by Ferrier to approach the budget from the point of “collaboration rather than confrontation.”
“This budget is a child of us all,” said Ferrier referring to the fact that almost parties in Parliament have had a hand the putting together of the budget.
He pointed out that the budget before them is the same one from June 2017, which was prepared under former Finance Minister Richard Gibson (National Alliance), that was “tweaked” to bring it in line with the post-Hurricane Irma reality.
To stave off any instruction that could spell austerity measures for the population, Ferrier urged Parliament to “not waste more time” to approve the draft budget.
The country’s budget based on law should have already been approved in December 2017. Also based on law, the budget should not have a deficit.
However, the current draft budget had a “gaping hole.” The deficit was allowed by the Dutch Kingdom Council of Ministers due to the damage inflicted by Hurricane Irma almost eight months ago.
