{"id":260337,"date":"2025-12-04T11:15:34","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T15:15:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=260337"},"modified":"2025-12-04T11:15:35","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T15:15:35","slug":"prime-minister-defends-economic-record-ahead-of-2026-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/prime-minister-defends-economic-record-ahead-of-2026-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"Prime Minister defends economic record ahead of 2026 Budget"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/div>
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Prime Minister Gaston Browne has defended his government\u2019s economic management, telling Parliament on Thursday that Antigua and Barbuda\u2019s progress is rooted in improving people\u2019s lives rather than producing \u201cfavourable statistics\u201d.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Speaking ahead of the 2026 Budget presentation, Browne warned that national gains should not be taken for granted. He said his administration inherited one of the most difficult economic periods in modern history when it took office in 2014, marked by fiscal and banking failures, a 25% economic contraction and debt levels exceeding 100% of GDP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Browne said the turnaround was deliberate, citing average real growth of 6% between 2021 and 2025 and a projected primary surplus of $254.9m. The debt-to-GDP ratio has fallen to 61.4%, close to the regional benchmark.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

He highlighted the abolition of personal income tax in 2016, which he said boosted consumption and business activity despite predictions that it would weaken government revenues.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Prime Minister pointed to strong performance in construction and tourism as evidence of investor confidence. Construction output rose from $273.5m in 2013 to $900m in 2024, while cruise arrivals are expected to reach one million passengers in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Browne also credited improvements in water production, housing, healthcare, education and port infrastructure, along with job creation averaging more than 1,100 posts a year. Unemployment is estimated at 5.5%.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

He said these gains reflect Antigua and Barbuda\u2019s evolution into what he described as an emerging economic powerhouse, driven by confidence and disciplined management.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prime Minister Gaston Browne has defended his government\u2019s economic management, telling Parliament on Thursday that Antigua and Barbuda\u2019s progress is rooted in improving people\u2019s lives rather than producing \u201cfavourable statistics\u201d. Speaking ahead of the 2026 Budget presentation, Browne warned that national gains should not be taken for granted. He said his administration inherited one of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":254241,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-260337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nPrime Minister defends economic record ahead of 2026 Budget - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/prime-minister-defends-economic-record-ahead-of-2026-budget\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Prime Minister defends economic record ahead of 2026 Budget\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Prime Minister Gaston Browne has defended his government\u2019s economic management, telling Parliament on Thursday that Antigua and Barbuda\u2019s progress is rooted in improving people\u2019s lives rather than producing \u201cfavourable statistics\u201d. Speaking ahead of the 2026 Budget presentation, Browne warned that national gains should not be taken for granted. He said his administration inherited one of […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/prime-minister-defends-economic-record-ahead-of-2026-budget\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Antigua News Room\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-04T15:15:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-04T15:15:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_7109.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1032\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"557\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"anr_staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"anr_staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/prime-minister-defends-economic-record-ahead-of-2026-budget\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/prime-minister-defends-economic-record-ahead-of-2026-budget\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"anr_staff\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f66ae26f5698168092c3ef9bccb12038\"},\"headline\":\"Prime Minister defends economic record ahead of 2026 Budget\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-04T15:15:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-04T15:15:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/prime-minister-defends-economic-record-ahead-of-2026-budget\/\"},\"wordCount\":237,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/prime-minister-defends-economic-record-ahead-of-2026-budget\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1032\/h:557\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_7109.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/prime-minister-defends-economic-record-ahead-of-2026-budget\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/prime-minister-defends-economic-record-ahead-of-2026-budget\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/prime-minister-defends-economic-record-ahead-of-2026-budget\/\",\"name\":\"Prime Minister defends economic record ahead of 2026 Budget - Antigua News Room\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/prime-minister-defends-economic-record-ahead-of-2026-budget\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/prime-minister-defends-economic-record-ahead-of-2026-budget\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1032\/h:557\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_7109.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-04T15:15:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-04T15:15:35+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/prime-minister-defends-economic-record-ahead-of-2026-budget\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/prime-minister-defends-economic-record-ahead-of-2026-budget\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/prime-minister-defends-economic-record-ahead-of-2026-budget\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1032\/h:557\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_7109.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1032\/h:557\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_7109.jpg\",\"width\":1032,\"height\":557,\"caption\":\"Prime Minister Gaston Browne speaking in parliament on October 16, 2025 while AG Benjamin looks on\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/prime-minister-defends-economic-record-ahead-of-2026-budget\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Prime Minister defends economic record ahead of 2026 Budget\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\",\"name\":\"Antigua News Room\",\"description\":\"News As It Happens\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Antigua Newsroom\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg\",\"width\":1260,\"height\":1260,\"caption\":\"Antigua Newsroom\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/AntiguaNewsRoom\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/antiguanewsroom\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f66ae26f5698168092c3ef9bccb12038\",\"name\":\"anr_staff\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96\",\"caption\":\"anr_staff\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/author\/anr_staff\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Prime Minister defends economic record ahead of 2026 Budget - Antigua News Room","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/prime-minister-defends-economic-record-ahead-of-2026-budget\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Prime Minister defends economic record ahead of 2026 Budget","og_description":"Prime Minister Gaston Browne has defended his government\u2019s economic management, telling Parliament on Thursday that Antigua and Barbuda\u2019s progress is rooted in improving people\u2019s lives rather than producing \u201cfavourable statistics\u201d. Speaking ahead of the 2026 Budget presentation, Browne warned that national gains should not be taken for granted. He said his administration inherited one of […]","og_url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/prime-minister-defends-economic-record-ahead-of-2026-budget\/","og_site_name":"Antigua News Room","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom","article_published_time":"2025-12-04T15:15:34+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-12-04T15:15:35+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1032,"height":557,"url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_7109.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"anr_staff","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@AntiguaNewsRoom","twitter_site":"@AntiguaNewsRoom","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"anr_staff","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/prime-minister-defends-economic-record-ahead-of-2026-budget\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/prime-minister-defends-economic-record-ahead-of-2026-budget\/"},"author":{"name":"anr_staff","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f66ae26f5698168092c3ef9bccb12038"},"headline":"Prime Minister defends economic record ahead of 2026 Budget","datePublished":"2025-12-04T15:15:34+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-04T15:15:35+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/prime-minister-defends-economic-record-ahead-of-2026-budget\/"},"wordCount":237,"commentCount":2,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/prime-minister-defends-economic-record-ahead-of-2026-budget\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1032\/h:557\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_7109.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/prime-minister-defends-economic-record-ahead-of-2026-budget\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/prime-minister-defends-economic-record-ahead-of-2026-budget\/","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/prime-minister-defends-economic-record-ahead-of-2026-budget\/","name":"Prime Minister defends economic record ahead of 2026 Budget - Antigua News Room","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/prime-minister-defends-economic-record-ahead-of-2026-budget\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/prime-minister-defends-economic-record-ahead-of-2026-budget\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1032\/h:557\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_7109.jpg","datePublished":"2025-12-04T15:15:34+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-04T15:15:35+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/prime-minister-defends-economic-record-ahead-of-2026-budget\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/prime-minister-defends-economic-record-ahead-of-2026-budget\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/prime-minister-defends-economic-record-ahead-of-2026-budget\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1032\/h:557\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_7109.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1032\/h:557\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_7109.jpg","width":1032,"height":557,"caption":"Prime Minister Gaston Browne speaking in parliament on October 16, 2025 while AG Benjamin looks on"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/prime-minister-defends-economic-record-ahead-of-2026-budget\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Prime Minister defends economic record ahead of 2026 Budget"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/","name":"Antigua News Room","description":"News As It Happens","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization","name":"Antigua Newsroom","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg","width":1260,"height":1260,"caption":"Antigua Newsroom"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom","https:\/\/x.com\/AntiguaNewsRoom","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/antiguanewsroom\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f66ae26f5698168092c3ef9bccb12038","name":"anr_staff","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96","caption":"anr_staff"},"url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/author\/anr_staff\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260337"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":260338,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260337\/revisions\/260338"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/254241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}