CASTRIES, St. Lucia, Apr 22, CMC – Prime Minister Phillip J. Pierre has presented an EC$2.19 billion (One EC dollar=US$0.37 cents) tax free budget to Parliament on Tuesday night, saying that barring any unforeseen circumstances “for which we have no control, we are expecting another current surplus and primary account surpluses continuing on the path of the last four years”.
Pierre in his three hour presentation, who defended the 2.5 per cent health and security levy introduced by his St. Lucia Labour Party (SLP) government in 2023, said no new taxes had been included in the fiscal package.
He told legislators that the loans and external financing for the budget will come from the various regional and international institutions including the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the European Investment Bank (EIB) the Canadian Clean Forest Climate Facility, the African Export Bank, as well as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the World Bank, the Kuwait Fund for Economic Development, Taiwan and Saudi Arabia.
Pierre, who is also the Finance Minister, said that the uncertainty regarding the cost of oil on the world market will have a direct effect on the cost of fuel in St. Lucia, albeit a lag effect, and have far-reaching effects on every aspect of lives here.
(Details in Business section)
CMC/2026