Balanced Budget Creates real Cayman Property Investment Opportunities

Balanced Budget Plan outlined by the Cayman Islands

June 22nd,2010

Taxation in 2010 Budget has been only nominally increased by the Cayman Islands. This move reveals the Cayman government’s 3-year plan aimed to bring its budget back to surplus. Besides cuts in expenditure, the government of the jurisdiction has proposed many reforms designed to enhance the jurisdiction’s attractiveness to investors.

When delivering the budget, Cayman’s Premier McKeeva Bush said: “Given the observations of the current fiscal year, it is evident that the economy is at a point where additional taxation will compromise the competitiveness of businesses. Such an outcome would have implications for the economy’s capacity to grow its way out of the recession. There is an awful tendency here to say raise taxes and let business pay, but the harsh reality is that if that is the case, we will run away businesses, and lose more jobs. The only ones to really suffer are Caymanians, particularly those who can’t help themselves. Therefore one of the key tenets upon which government policy would revolve, during the fiscal year 2010/11, is the minimization of any new revenue measures on businesses, especially when it becomes a burden”.

According to the government’s budget forecasts, a small surplus of about USD 11.1 million is expected in the fiscal year 2011-2012. In 2012-2013, a fiscal recovery is foreseen as the surplus is expected to be essential.

To improve the attractiveness of the Cayman Islands to outside investors, the following measures are to be implemented by the government:

- to further modernize and enhance regulation and supervision in order to ensure that the jurisdiction keeps on par with the evolving international regulatory standards and best practices relevant to its various types of business;

- to intensify international cooperation and involvement in order to ensure that the government does its part to ensure the safety and sound regulation of the international financial system, allowing the islands to contribute to the development of international rules and standards that affect it;

- to increase the effectiveness and cost-efficiency with which regulatory agencies operate;

- to facilitate the efforts of government and the private sector to further develop the jurisdiction as an international financial center;

- to become more business-friendly.