Government will continue the annual withdrawal of $11.4 billion from the National Housing Trust (NHT) for budgetary support which has been made more critical with the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa.

Finance and Public Service Minister Fayval Williams made the announcement in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, where she outlined new tax measures aimed at raking in nearly $30 billion in revenues during 2026/27.

Williams noted that the NHT Act was first amended in March 2013 to facilitate the transfer of $11.4 billion to the Central Government towards fiscal consolidation for the four-year period 2013/14 to 2016/17.

She cited that given the need for further consolidation under the Government’s Economic Reform Programme (ERP), further amendments of the NHT Act were undertaken in August 2017 to facilitate continued transfers for the period 2017/18 to 2020/21, and in December 2020 to facilitate the continuation of annual transfers for the period 2021/22 to 2025/26.

Williams explained that the National Housing Trust (Amendment) (Special Provisions) Act, 2020 provides for the NHT to make a financial distribution for fiscal consolidation of $11.4 billion per annum for a period of five years, with effect from the 2021/22 financial year. Section 3 of the Act provides that “This Act shall continue in operation until March 31, 2026, and shall then expire.”

Williams pointed out that the pending expiration of the Act on March 31 will result in the discontinuation of the annual contributions by the NHT and a significant fall-off in Government revenues.

“Given the impact of Hurricane Melissa on the island, continuation of these transfers across the medium term is necessary to support sustainability of the fiscal operations while reconstruction activities are undertaken. It is therefore proposed that the annual transfer of $11.4 billion from the National Housing Trust to the Central Government be continued for another five years from fiscal FY 2026/2027 through FY 2030/2031,” said Williams.