News
CI Government Q1 2025 Financial Report Gazetted
The Cayman Islands Government’s Quarterly Financial Report for the Three-Month Period Ended 31 March 2025 was published in the Cayman Islands Gazette on Monday, 12 May 2025 as required by law.
The unaudited financial results for the First Quarter 2025 show a $262.2 million surplus for the Core Government and a $268.1 million surplus for the Entire Public Sector (EPS).
Net Assets of the Government were $2.5 billion, with overall bank account balances of $614.6 million in cash and deposits.
Surplus
The overall EPS Surplus of $268.1 million was $54.6 million, or 26 percent, greater than the projected year-to-date operating surplus of $213.5 million.
This favourable position was due to actual revenues being higher than budgeted by $65.7 million for the period, with coercive revenues accounting for $60.6 million.
Year-on-Year Comparison
Comparing year-on-year numbers, the EPS Surplus was $7.9 million higher than that achieved for the same period in 2024.
Statutory Authorities and Government-owned Companies’ (SAGCs) results through the first quarter of 2025 showed a negative variance of $2.5 million when compared to the same period in 2024.
Revenues
The first three months of 2025 generated coercive revenues of $534.3 million, which was $60.6 million more than budgeted expectations and $44.8 million higher than the 2024 year-to-date actual results.
The positive variance in Q1 2025 coercive revenues compared to budget can be broken down as follows:
- Other Company Fees – Exempt Companies were $30.9 million higher than the $79.1million budgeted amount for the first quarter due to increased registration. When compared to prior year-to-date performance, the 2025 results were $16.0 million better.
- Partnership Fees exceeded budget by $16.0 million owing to higher than anticipated registration in this category. Compared to the prior year, there is an $8.0 million positive variance.
- Private Fund Fees performed $9.3 million better than the $55.3 million anticipated due to an increase in the volume of funds registered. The current year results for these fees are $6.5 million higher, when compared to the prior year-to-date performance.
- Stamp Duty – Land Transfers revenues were $7.7 million higher due to larger volumes of property transactions coupled with increasing property values. The 2025 stamp duties of $26.7 million collected in Q1 are $5.0 million more than the comparable quarter in 2024.
Notwithstanding the overall favourable results in coercive revenues collected, when compared to the 2025 Budget, there were certain areas that fell short of projected expectations including:
- Other Import Duty showed a $10.0 million negative variance against budget, and were $1.8 million less than prior year-to-date revenues in this category.
- Work Permit Fees showed a $2.6 million negative variance against budget, and were $1.2 million less than prior year-to-date revenues in this category.
Total Investment Revenue produced $6.1 million, which was $3.8 million more than anticipated for the three-month period.
Higher cash balances held by the Government have afforded larger values to be placed on deposit and this has increased income earned on investments.
Expenses
Expenses for the first three months of 2025 amounted to $291.9 million. This amount was $17.3 million more than the year-to-date budget of $274.6 million. Compared to the prior year-to-date actuals, expenses for Q1 are $31.3 million higher.
There were some savings against budget in Personnel Costs by $5.9 million and Supplies & Consumables by $8.7 million.
However, these savings were offset by higher than budgeted levels of expenditure in Outputs from SAGCs by $4.6 million, Outputs from Non-Governmental Suppliers by $11.4 million, and Transfer Payments by $19.5 million.
The report noted that year-to-date savings in Personnel Costs and Supplies & Consumables, may not translate into full-year savings and may be due to timing differences. Vacant posts and delayed projects will impact current costs reflected in Personnel Costs and Supplies & Consumables, respectively.
Performance of Statutory Authorities and Government Companies
SAGCs recorded a combined net Operating Surplus of $5.9 million for the first three months of 2025; which was $6.2 million more favourable than the budgeted Operating Deficit of $0.3 million and which had a positive impact on the overall surplus for the EPS.
Based on the most recent information received from SAGCs, this favourable variance is mainly attributed to results being better than expected at the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, Port Authority and the Water Authority Cayman. These favourable variances were partially offset by the unfavourable performance of the Health Services Authority.
However, the SAGCs’ overall performance is $2.5 million behind when compared to the prior year-to-date performance.
Cash Position
Cash and Cash Equivalents (including fixed deposits with maturity durations not exceeding 90 days) were $117.6 million and Marketable Securities (comprised solely of fixed deposits with maturity durations exceeding 90 days but not exceeding one year) were $497.0 million, for a total of $614.6 million with respect to bank account balances.
Due to the significant cash balances on-hand, the Government continues to place funds on fixed deposit.
Conclusion
The report’s conclusion noted the cyclical nature of the Cayman Islands Government’s revenues, emphasising that First Quarter revenue results of $554.1 million are expected to be the highest revenues earned in any single quarter for 2025. This is directly related to Financial Services fees being due at the beginning of each year.
The Cayman Islands Government’s Unaudited Quarterly Financial Report for the Three-Month Period Ended 31 March 2025 may be found online at:
