St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves expressed satisfaction with the performance of the local economy during the first five months of 2025, highlighting a significant increase in capital expenditure.
“And last year was a record year. Last year was about EC$250 million (One EC dollar = US$0.37 cents),” Gonsalves said, noting that capital expenditure had stood at EC$69 million at the end of May 2024. He revealed that the figure has since increased to EC$131 million this year.
“But if you say that, they more or less even out what didn’t come to account last year … this year will also be another bumper year,” he added, emphasizing that his numbers are “rough guides — trends.”
“Amazing, eh? You hear money?” Gonsalves remarked, reporting that total revenue and grants through May 2025 rose 16.9 per cent year on year, from EC$319.5 million to EC$373.4 million.
“The current revenue component alone went up by 11.2% from EC$310.3 million to EC$345 million,” he said. “Not bad eh?”
On expenditure, Gonsalves noted a 25.6 per cent increase, rising from EC$384 million in 2024 to EC$482 million year-on-year during the same period.
“I’m rounding the numbers off. That’s a big, big jump,” he said, adding that there was a deficit of approximately EC$6.5 million, compared to EC$4.3 million last year.
“Well, given what we have done, that deficit on the current account is a small deficit,” the prime minister said.
“If this was an exam report and you take it home to your mammy, your mammy would say, ‘Well done. Well done. You’re definitely getting promoted. You’re going up,’” Gonsalves said.
The Unity Labour Party (ULP) government led by Gonsalves is expected to face the electorate in general elections by November, ahead of the February 2026 constitutional deadline.
