Mr. Speaker, Members of this Honourable House, Distinguished Guests, and Fellow Dominicans at home and abroad, Good Morning.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to present the Budget Address for Fiscal Year 2024/2025, thankful for the Lord’s continuous blessings, mercies, and protection over our people and our nation. His grace has guided and sheltered us.
We are not afraid because we take comfort and inspiration from the words of Isaiah 41
that God is with us and that he will strengthen and help us.
It is with this confidence, Mr. Speaker, that we continue to chart a path toward a progressive future for our citizens within a global environment beset by unprecedented social and economic challenges.
We in the Caribbean, continue to be disproportionately impacted by climate change and external shocks. The wars in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, global health crises, and the debilitating effects of disaster undermine social stability and economic performance.
These major events are causing supply chain disruptions and increasing costs of transportation, making it difficult for small island developing states like Dominica to import essential goods at reasonable cost and contributing to inflation, which profoundly impacts the economy.
See enclosed the full Budget address