Our role, as set out in our letters of appointment, is “to provide Bermuda’s Parliament, Minister of Finance and Financial Policy Council with an annual published assessment of the territory’s fiscal strategy, focusing on progress in meeting the territory’s medium term objectives for public spending, taxation, borrowing and debt reduction.” In making our assessment we are asked to “review the impact of the most recent Bermuda Government Budget; the credibility of macro and fiscal assumptions underlying Government projections; and the risks that could affect progress in meeting the territory’s fiscal goals…[offering]…advice where needed on ways to refine these goals, and on adjustments to fiscal strategy and tax and spending policies needed to achieve them."
The pandemic, and associated changes in working practices in both Bermuda and our home countries, meant that we, on the advice of the Ministry of Finance, decided not to travel to Bermuda this year. Our meetings have therefore been conducted remotely. We have nevertheless had a full schedule of meetings and helpful discussions with Ministers and their officials, and as ever are particularly grateful to Anthony Manders, Deborah Harris and the other staff of the Ministry of Finance for their support. We would also like to thank the many others on the island who have offered us information and advice (a complete list is in Annex A) and Carol Martin for organising our video conferencing. However, the report’s judgements and recommendations reflect our own independent views.