Leader of Government Business commends the 2025/2026 budget

4th May 2025

By GIS

Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Investment, Creative Industries, Culture and Information, Hon. Guibion Ferdinand, recently commended the prudent management of finance and economic expert, Prime Minister Hon. Philip J. Pierre at an April 29 Sitting of the Senate, on the 2025/2026 Appropriation Bill.

“I do not recall any other time in almost nine years in this Chamber that I have felt such a level of pride and confidence as I stand to present the Appropriation Bill 2025/2026 as Leader of Government Business. This budget is one of courage and inspiration and represents the competence, prudence and compassion of a leader who cares. It also represents this government’s philosophy and how it intends to deal with the challenges ahead of us,” he said.

“This is the largest budget in the history of the country - over EC$2 billion; and I recall a Member of the Opposition, the Member for Choiseul/Saltibus being so impressed that he characterized it as an AI-generated budget because he thought that only AI could have generated that type of quality. In fact, this is the first time that an Opposition has had so much difficulty trying to find something in the budget that they could oppose.”

The minister said Prime Minister Pierre’s leadership is competent, compassionate, and guided by a philosophy to improve the lives of citizens not only socially, but also economically. He listed several accomplishments.

“The Saint Lucia Labor Party government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre has been able to manage this country, return it to a level of economic stability, and service its debt while simultaneously increasing public servants’ salaries and increasing pensions. The government has registered three consecutive years of economic growth, has reduced unemployment to single figures—the first time in many years, and has been able to set this country on a path to economic prosperity.

He continued: “In this budget there are no new taxes, and at this time Saint Lucia is one of the lowest-taxed jurisdictions in this region. Our projected growth is above the 2.2 percent regional average and Saint Lucia having grown its economy for three consecutive years, in the fourth year our projected growth is 4 percent, which is 1.8 percent above the regional average. In the banking sector, the local Bank of Saint Lucia has become the largest in the ECCU, and we have brought our debt-to-GDP ration down from 95 percent which we inherited in 2021, to 73 percent in 2025.”

The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, suggests a debt-to-GDP ratio of about 40 percent as the ideal limit for developing countries.

Prime Minister Pierre's areas of expertise include but are not limited to economic analysis and economic forecasting, financial policy, financial management and budgeting, organizational management and development, business financing, and policy development, advice, facilitation and implementation.

He holds tertiary-level degrees in Economics and Business Administration.