by Linda Straker
- 2026 budget is fully financed despite EC$309 million deficit
- Fiscal year for Grenada from 1 January to 31 December
- Appropriation (2026) Act, 2025 and 2026 Budget Loan Authorisation Act, 2025 have been assented to by Her Excellency the Governor-General
Grenada’s 2026 Budget or Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure has gone through all the necessary legal requirements and will take effect from 1 January. Section 5 of the Public Finance Management Act defines the fiscal year for Grenada as running from 1 January to 31 December each year.
A notice in the 19 December 2025 edition of the Government Gazette stated that the Appropriation (2026) Act, 2025 and the 2026 Budget Loan Authorisation Act, 2025, have been assented to by Her Excellency the Governor-General Dame Cécile La Grenade.
The assent by the Governor-General was the final step of the 2026 record-breaking EC$1.960,013,910 budget, which was presented to the Lower House of Parliament on 1 December and debated days later by Lower and Upper House members. The 2026 budget is up by EC$47,141,896 compared with the 2025 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure, which both Houses of Parliament approved in March 2025.
In his budget statement, Finance Minister Dennis Cornwall said the 2026 budget sets the stage for the next phase of national transformation for the Dickon Mitchell Administration, which was elected for a 5-year term in June 2022. “Mr Speaker, this 4th budget of our tenure sets the stage for the next phase of national transformation. It is more than a financial plan. It is a statement of faith; faith in the creativity and capacity of our people, faith in our collective potential, and faith in the divine guidance that continues to steer our nation through challenge and change,” Cornwall told the Lower House of Parliament when he presented the budget. “It reminds us that real progress is never imposed from the top down; it is powered by the active participation, innovation, and perseverance of our people — the true drivers of national transformation,” he said.
Explaining that a specific macroeconomic and social context frames the 2026 budget, the finance minister said it is shaped by global uncertainties, regional dynamics, and the lived experiences of Grenadians. “By grounding our plans in these realities, we ensure that our strategies are not only ambitious but also practical, resilient, and responsive to the needs of all Grenadians.”
He told the House that the 4th budget deepens the national transformation agenda and consolidates the gains achieved over the past 3 ½ years. According to Cornwall, the 2026 budget, or Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure, is fully financed despite the EC$309 million deficit.
