In a short letter to the Cayman Islands' premier, the chair of Cayman Finance has asked Mckeeva Bush to cut the costs of the civil service and contingent pension liabilities to balance government revenues. Link to full letter
Praising Bush for his bold moves regarding immigration policy changes and offering the full support of the financial industry, Anthony Travers said the changes would be even more effective as part of a two-pronged attack which included addressing the benefits of public sector workers. “In our view this will require immediate legislative amendment to revise public sector pension and medical entitlements to real world levels,” Travers wrote in a letter sent today (9 February).
“We now know that the historic financial modelling is simply wrong and is creating an unsustainable liability. It is the view of Cayman Finance that balancing the budget through a process which boosts income from the financial services industry and effects public sector cuts is the only way forward for Cayman.”
Travers offered his full backing to the recent revision of the immigration policy directions for Cayman’s financial services sector. “These bold initiatives to remedy issues with the financial services industry in Cayman place it once again on a path to expansion," the chair of the financial association stated. ‘This is exactly the short term medicine we need to restore health and vitality.”
He said the changes should see an increase in interest from leading global financial organisations who will find the Cayman Islands increasingly attractive as a place to live and work.
The letter comes while the country is still awaiting the outcome of an internal civil service review and an independent review of potential new revenue sources for government finance. Although both were originally set to be completed by December the two reviews are not scheduled to be completed before the end of February.