St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew shared his upcoming plans for 2025, addressing several national and international issues during his first roundtable interview of the year which was held on Tuesday, January 7, 2025.Â
While sharing his vision for 2025, PM Drew stated that there is no country that has not been affected by global inflation. To beat this problem, the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis is trying to initiate some policies to support their people during difficult times.
PM Drew further added that these policies include an increase in salaries, wages, and pensions, along with subsidies for electricity, water, and social programmes.
Additionally, he talked about some upcoming plans like budget allocation, initiatives to support citizens, development of renewable energy sources, and better education for youth.
Budget allocated by PM Dr Terrance Drew
While discussing his upcoming plans, PM Dr Terrance Drew said that a budget of $320 million is allocated to support households, and provide significant subsidies and incomes for civil servants.
He shared that this budget was created to lower the impact of rising inflation on the citizens and residents, that is causing difficulties for the people in balancing their savings, investments, and expenditure.
Initiatives to support low and middle income households
Budget Boost Wallet (BBW) is one of the initiatives made to offer financial assistance to low and middle income households, providing eligible citizens $5,000 or less per month while giving $250 each month for the first half of 2025.
A Value Added Tax (VAT) Relief Holiday has been initiated that has reduced VAT from 17 to 13% for the first six months of 2025.
Furthermore, there will be an increase of $500 per week in national minimum wages which will be effective from July 1, 2025, while programs such as L.I.F.T. and ELEVATE will ensure that the families and individuals should receive the support they need.
L.I.F.T also known as Livelihood Improvement for Family Transformation is a programme developed to make families financially stronger and have a secure future.
Whereas, the ELEVATE Programme is aimed at fostering human development by organizing training, meetings, and providing access to computers for better career planning.
Moreover, the ASPIRE Programme launched by the government in November 2024, inculcates several important skills among youth related to money management like investing and saving to become financially independent at a young age.
Development of renewable energy sources in St Kitts and Nevis
PM Drew further shared during the interview that the government has reached an agreement with the Republic of China (Taiwan) to lead the development of a 50-megawatt solar farm, in an attempt to advance their renewable energy sources, construction of which will begin later this year.
He further added that they have received enough funding to start the drilling of geothermal, which will be used to generate electricity, while producing low-carbon and is cheaper.
St Kitts and Nevis to work on empowering citizens with better education
PM Dr Terrance Drew stated that the budget for education will be increased to EC $120 million in 2025, with an aim to make education available at all levels, from preschool to higher education.
He added that secondary education, and college education will be free, while preschool education will be free or heavily subsidized.
Several initiatives have been launched by the government with the support of St Kitts and Nevis Development Bank to promote entrepreneurship and fund small businesses.
