Senate Approves $11.4B NHT Transfers for Gov’t Support Through Fiscal Year 2030/31

The Senate, on Friday (June 5), approved the National Housing Trust (Amendment) (Special Provisions) Act, 2026, which authorises the annual withdrawal of $11.4 billion from the NHT to provide budgetary support for the Government over the next five fiscal years.

The measure will apply from fiscal year 2026/27 through 2030/31, after which it will expire.

Piloting the legislation, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith, explained that given Jamaica’s fiscal environment has been significantly altered by the passage of Hurricane Melissa, the Government reluctantly opted to continue this revenue measure.

“The clear reality is that beyond the personal experiences of dislocation, loss, and disruption caused by Hurricane Melissa, extensive destruction to critical infrastructure, productive sectors, and public assets have placed severe pressure on the public finances and increased the need for continued recovery spending. Discontinuation of this measure at this time would result in a significant falloff in government revenues at a time when these funds are needed even more.

“The alternative would be to cut programmes delivering wider benefits or to levy new taxes on the backs of the Jamaican people. Our ability to deliver on the Government’s economic programme in the best and widest interests of all Jamaicans, therefore, continues to rely on these transfers from the NHT to fund expenditures already outlined in the national budget,” she said.

In February, the Government announced its intention to continue the annual transfers from the NHT to central government as part of revised revenue measures.

 

Senator Johnson Smith, who is Leader of Government Business in the Upper House, stated that the argument raised elsewhere—that discontinuing these distributions would allow the Government to redirect NHT funds to close the housing gap—is not grounded in Jamaica’s realities.

“Our housing shortages are not solvable purely by access to financing. They are driven by multiple bottlenecks, including, availability of service land, infrastructure constraints, road, water, electricity in the appropriate areas, cost of construction, labour shortages in the construction sector, lengthy planning and approval processes, titling and administration issues. We’re tackling these. But these matters are systemic and take time.

“The reality is that if we did not proceed with the transfers being debated, those constraints would still subsist, even as we seek to solve them… such that the NHT could not instantly convert those funds into housing, while the discontinuation on the other side would absolutely incontrovertibly have wider immediate negative effect on the population,” she said.

Senator Johnson Smith emphasised that the NHT is well positioned to sustain the annual $11.4 billion transfers to the Government over the medium term, while still maintaining adequate cash surpluses.

“The NHT continues to maintain a strong asset position. In fact, assets exceed liabilities by approximately 1.8 times, and will continue to do so over the medium term. Therefore, based on the expected expenditure plans, a strong revenue base and robust asset position, notwithstanding the transfers… it will be able to continue to operate profitably while expanding access to housing,” she stated.

Minister Johnson Smith noted that the annual $11.4 billion drawdown is critical to sustaining programmes that positively impact the lives of as many people as possible, both through housing and other initiatives.

The Senate passed the legislation without amendment.