Technical officers at government agencies are working to ensure that allocations under the Budget for the coming fiscal year, which begins on April 1, can proceed in the wake of the General Election set for next month.

After David Burt, the Premier, declared February 18 as the date for Bermudian voters to go to the polls, questions and comments have arisen in the public domain about the timing of the call — and, given the tight timelines, its implications for the Budget.

In a statement over the weekend, a government spokeswoman told The Royal Gazette that, regardless of electoral outcome, it was not expected that budgetary estimates would be introduced beyond April 1.

She said: “Led by the Ministry of Finance, technical officers are preparing budgets as usual to ensure that, following the election, this important phase of the legislative calendar can proceed.”

It was noted that Section 96 of the Bermuda Constitution specifically contemplates a dissolution of the legislature “less than three months before the commencement of any financial year”.

She said it sets out that any new Budget estimates can be brought to the House of Assembly “as soon as practicable after the commencement of that year”.

In addition, Section 97 of the constitution anticipates a scenario where expenditure might need to be met pending the completion of budgeting, the spokeswoman said.

She said that “this too has been considered”, with the Government aware of “all matters required to ensure continuity in the provision of public services, public sector pay and the full suite of the Government of Bermuda’s obligations to its citizens”.

The scenario is expected to be a repeat of 1983 and 1989, when elections were held in February, just prior to the end of the fiscal year.

Peter Sanderson, a constitutional lawyer, told the Gazette that Section 95 of the constitution provided that, other than for national security, finances cannot be withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund unless there has been an appropriation law, or unless authorised under Section 97 of the constitution.

He said if no appropriation law was in place by April 1, Section 97 allowed legislators to empower the finance minister to authorise withdrawals for a period of up to four months.

“Presumably they can muddle along,” Mr Sanderson said. “There could be a problem if no party has a majority, and they can’t co-operate for an interim solution. That seems unlikely at this time.”

Douglas De Couto, an opposition senator in the last legislature and the One Bermuda Alliance candidate for Warwick North East, said Section 96 “allows for wiggle room in the timing of the Budget, in case of an election right before the end of the financial year”.

He also noted that the application of Section 97 on the running of public spending, with agreement from the House, provided “even further flexibility”.

Dr De Couto said that, based on the timing of previous years, the OBA expected the Premier to present the Budget on February 14, with the Reply coming week later on February 21, followed by 2½ weeks of debate in the House and a week of debate in the Senate.

He said the Budget would have already been fully prepared by the time the election was called and that all government departments will have spent many months in the planning process leading up to this point.

If the Progressive Labour Party retains power, Dr De Couto said the Budget would probably proceed as normal, although with a tighter legislative schedule.

He said there would be some ability for the Premier — assuming that Mr Burt remains the Premier and finance minister — to delay the process and take a bit more time.

He raised the possibility of new ministerial appointments, such as under the public works portfolio, and said ministers would have “to scramble to read and digest” their briefs prior to the debate.

On the other hand, were the OBA to win the election, Dr De Couto said under Sections 96 and 97 of the constitution, the party would have some time to delay the Budget, make an assessment of its contents, and study other key information not available to the party at present.

He added: “The priority of a One Bermuda Alliance government is to keep public services functioning.

“Substantial changes to the budget could significantly impact the previous work already taken by ministries and departments.

“By calling the election when he did, the Premier put public services at risk. We will have to see what the PLP government had planned and quickly make hard decisions about how to proceed.”

He added: “It is curious that the Premier has called the election prior to presenting the Budget.

“The OBA is quite ready for the election, but if the Budget was a good one, we would have expected the Premier would have taken the opportunity to present the Government’s plans and highlight their self-described ‘strong financial performance’.

“It’s not hard to imagine serious issues in the finances that would be revealed by the Budget data, such as the prior year’s spending or other unexpected developments.”

As an example, Dr De Couto explained that from the pre-budget report, it was indicated that the Government has increased the net debt by $105 million over the past two years.

He said this is owing to “very large transfers” from the Sinking Fund, which he alleged the Government hid from the normal budget process.

He added: “Although the Premier had talked about funding health and housing in this recent 2024-25 financial year, we know from the Fiscal Responsibility Panel that $59 million was also transferred out of the Sinking Fund in the 2023-24 financial year.

“This was a surprise and indicated serious shortfalls in the Government’s finances.”

Sir John Swan, the former premier and an independent candidate in the election, criticised the Premier’s timing.

He noted: “We could have had the opportunity to make decisions for this election based upon the Budget. Now we can’t.

“So we’re put in a really limbo position and that’s what the election will be. It's a limbo election.”

Sir John said calling the election without the Budget being presented was “basically a desperate decision rather than a reasonable, logical decision”.