DOMINICA-Finance Minister to present national budget on August 4.

ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC – Finance Minister Dr. Irving McIntyre will present the 2026–2027 national budget on August 4, with the government indicating that it will outline “progressive policy initiatives” to help Dominicans cope with a changing global environment.

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, speaking on the state-owned DBS radio ahead of the presentation, said the fiscal package will include measures to address the cost of living in Dominica, adding “it will be a very important budget.

“The budget will be presented against the backdrop of the global uncertainties that we currently are experiencing. Several things are causing shocks to the economy, not only in Dominica but throughout the world.

“So you have these external actions, whether geopolitical or the conflict in the Middle East, all of which impact on the way of life of every single citizen in the world,” Skerrit said, noting that every government, every country is seeking to see how they can maneuver around those challenges “which they have no control over”.

He said these challenges are having an impact on the goods on the shelves “because you have a supply chain issue, freight goes up, insurance goes up for the shipping lines, all of these increases are passed on to the consumers”.

But he is promising Dominicans that his administration will continue to provide relief by ensuring that they keep more of their money in their pockets through their salaries, in terms of taxation.

“So there are several things that we do, all of which impact directly on your pockets in Dominica,” he said, telling radio listeners that “you will see some very, very far-reaching and progressive policy initiatives that the government will present to the people of Dominica, which will cause there to be a reduction of the goods on the shelves….”

Skerrit is also promising to “make a deliberate statement on the Citizenship by Investment (CBI) program in a very transparent manner”.

Last year, as he presented the EC$1.33 billion fiscal package, McIntyre said that the Citizenship by Investment (CBI) program continues to be a critical source of financing, mainly for capital expenditure, and accounts for roughly 58 percent of total revenues.

Under the CBI program, foreign investors are granted citizenship of Dominica in return for making a substantial investment in the socio-economic development of the country.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Skerrit said he was keeping an open mind as leaders of the countries of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) operating a CBI program get ready to hold talks with the European Union (EU).

The European Commission has given the Eastern Caribbean countries operating CBI programs until June 1, 2028, to phase out the programs.

Skerrit said that the meeting in Brussels, a date for which has not yet been disclosed, will be important as the CBI-operating countries need to put their case forward.

“The European Union has indicated that it is prepared to sit with us, to discuss with us how they can help, because it is one thing to ask us to end or to lose the visa-free regime, but it’s another thing to talk about what’s going to replace it, especially in the medium term,” he said.