Glimpses of recovery can be seen in the Budget, according to Bob Richards, Minister of Finance, who characterised the latest Budget as part of a multi-year national recovery plan. Mr Richards got applause from colleagues when he told MPs that the current account balance before debt service will achieve a surplus for the first time in more than seven years. Debt stands out as the biggest risk to Bermuda’s financial independence, Mr Richards said.

“Our budget targets represented in this statement flow from the understanding that the coming fiscal year is a turning point in this government’s efforts to not only right the economic ship, but prepare the way for future growth and prosperity,” Mr Richards told MPs, listing off developments that he said would inject $930 million into the economy over the next one to three years. Impediments to economic recovery are “local and structural”, he warned.

Significant increases in various taxes are contained in this year’s Budget, Mr Richards said — and customs duties are no longer producing the revenues they once did. Goverment has requested an International Monetary Fund regional body to examine ways of broadening Bermuda’s tax base, he added.

All spending by Goverment will have a lower priority than debt payment, Mr Richards said, with debt spending to hit $170 million this year, it would constitute Goverment’s second-biggest ministry. Further borrowing may only be considered for capital expenditure.

“Tentative evidence” of a reversal of the exodus from Bermuda between 2008 and 2013 has been presented by the Finance Minister: Planning applications went up by almost a quarter last year over 2013, he said. The number of building permits rose from 701 in 2013 to 877 in 2014, while the number of work permits processed rose from 10,825 to 11,321 — the first increase since 2008.

MPs reacted with surprise to an announcement of airport departure tax from $35 to $50 in the latest Budget — as part of a general tax increase that included raising the standard rate of payroll tax by 0.5 per cent, to 14.5 per cent. Mr Richards also provoked a murmur from Opposition MPs when he said he could no longer guarantee that there would be no losses of jobs in the civil service.