FINANCE
the Ministries in the contributing countries responsible for tertiary education and finance. The Ministry of Health, Jamaica was also represented. The meetings of the Campus Grants Committees (CGCs) and the University Grants Committee (UGC) were subsequently held on April 3, 2019 in Barbados to review and approve the recommendations of the TACs. Ministers and senior officials of the Ministries of Education and Finance of the contributing countries and the Ministry of Health, Jamaica, as well as representatives of The UWI and UHWI attended the meetings. The UGC meeting was chaired by the Honourable Mia Mottley, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Economic Affairs and Investment, Barbados . An expenditure budget of BDS$740.4 million was approved for The University of the West Indies, to be funded by government contributions totalling BDS$535.5 million and the balance from tuition fees and other sources of income.
As a result of the debt restructuring programme, during the year, the Government of Barbados issued Bonds totalling BDS$119 million to the University in exchange for economic cost, and tuition fees totalling BDS$102 million and Value Added Tax (VAT) totalling BDS$17 million, owed to the University at July 31, 2018. A Bond for BDS$10.3 million was also issued as replacement for treasury notes previously held. The University received a payment of BDS$51 million in March 2019 as proceeds of the Bond held for Tuition Fees and economic cost and the balance of BDS$51.1 million was received in March 2020. For early settlement of the Bond, payment of tuition fees from the Government of Barbados to the Cave Hill Campus was restricted to amounts in excess of BDS$20 million for the next two years. The Bond held for VAT was sold to a third party. APPROVAL OF THE BUDGETS FOR THE BIENNIUM 2019/2020–2020/2021 Annually, the Office of Finance issues Budget Guidelines to the Campuses and University Centre Departments for the preparation of the Biennial Estimates, and co- ordinates and directs the preparation of these estimates for submission to the Meetings of the Technical Advisory Committees (TACs) and the University Grants Committee (UGC). The Budgets for the Biennium 2019/2020-2020/2021 of the University—four campuses, the University Centre and the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) were reviewed by the TACs at the meetings hosted by the Government of Antigua and Barbuda on February 21-22, 2019. The attendees included representatives of
Also included are pension supplementation costs arising from salary increases during the year, and a reduction in the prescribed discount rate from 7.5% to 6.5% used to calculate the net present value of the pension supplementation obligation for staff and retirees whose pension arrangements are managed by the Mona Campus. The surplus of BDS$51 million (2018: BDS$81 million) made from income generating activities showed a reduction, compared with the prior year. This was primarily due to loss of revenue in tuition fees from reduced enrolment in certain programmes, and from loss of rental income due to reduced occupancy levels at some conference facilities. In accordance with international accounting standards (IFRS9), an impairment provision of BDS$17 million was made on receivables for government contributions, advances, government scholarships, student fees, and investments.
RECURRENT CONTRIBUTIONS FROMTHE CONTRIBUTING GOVERNMENTS
The sources of income for the year were: •
Government Contributions 48% (2018: 45%) Tuition and Other Student Fees 14% (2018: 13%)
Higher Education delivers real and substantial benefits to economies globally. This investment in human capital provides individuals with the ability to gain mobility up the economic ladder. Caribbean governments rely on The UWI to educate its people and this ultimately helps to address the needs of the Caribbean economies and bolsters economic growth. The development of the region has benefited significantly from its investment in education. Over the past few years, focus has been placed on maintaining dialogue with governments to encourage payment of their assessed contributions to The UWI on a consistent basis. During the year 2018/2019, The
• • • • •
Special Projects 7% (2018: 8%) Other Projects 20% (2018: 22%)
Commercial Operations 7% (2018: 8%)
Other Income 4% (2018: 4%)
The categories of expenditure and their percentages of the total were: • Departmental 44% (2018: 40%) • Administrative 13% (2018: 9%) • Central 17% (2018: 23%) • Special projects 6% (2018: 8%) • Other Projects 14% (2018: 14%) • Commercial Operations 6% (2018: 6%)
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