Speaking Notes for the Hon. McKeeva Bush for the Meeting Held with Senior Civil Servants, Government Boards and Private Sector Business Leaders to Obtain Ideas and Suggestions for New Revenue Measures - 27 August 2009

Along with other countries around the world, the Government and citizens of the Cayman Islands are feeling the effects of the global recession. Everyone is facing tough financial times, everyone has had to tighten their belts and make more sacrifices in order to make ends meet. But I strongly feel that as an integrated and informed community, we can pull through these difficult times.

Over the past weeks, there has been numerous articles and comments made in the media about the financial situation of the Government. Today I want to inform you of the current financial position of the Government, provide some indications as to the government's thoughts on how to approach the challenges that lay ahead, and to hear from you, your ideas and thoughts of how we can all pull together and assist in getting our country through these hard times. We face unprecedented challenges. And we must embark on solutions realizing that our solutions will also have to be unprecedented.

I want to say a few words first about the format of this meeting. When the government called this meeting it was intended that an important update is provided by the government to senior civil servants and the private sector. It is also intended to provide the opportunity for you to give your input. I chose this format, not because I expected that we would write a report together here today. I realise that would not be practical given the numbers and the time.

But I also felt that given the seriousness of the situation, there should be an opportunity for all concerned to be able to hear directly from others. I also felt it was important for the private sector to hear directly via this forum of the concerns and ideas being developed by the civil service. And also for the civil servants to hear directly from the private sector.

Secondly, if I had taken a smaller group first, then there would likely be no end of chatter about special interest groups and the question will invariably be asked why didn't I bring everyone together into the initial discussions because everyone is affected.

Now first let me briefly summarise the current financial situation of the government:

The preliminary financial results and position of the Government as at 30th June 2009

The most recent preliminary financial results for the year ended 30th June, 2009 shows that the Government's Operating Revenue was CI$487.4 million. Operating Expenses of the central government totaled CI$557.1 million and the net loss of the public authorities totaled CI$11.4 million. Taking the Operating Expenses and net loss of the public authorities away from the Operating Revenue, the entire public sector ended up with an operating deficit of CI$81.1 million for the year ended 30th June 2009.

The loan balances of the Entire Public Sector, as at 30th June 2009, totaled CI$598.0 million. This amount comprises of CI$416.5 million for central government and CI$181.5 million for public authorities.

The Government's cash balances as at 30th June 2009 totaled CI$90.4 million. This amount comprises of CI$14.3 million in operating cash balances and CI$76.1 million in restricted cash balances.