Gov't chops $22-b from budget

BY ALICIA DUNKLEY Senior staff reporter dunkleya@jamaicaobserver.com

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

SOME 30 departments and agencies of the State have seen cuts or reallocations from their recurrent and capital budgets after Government slashed the spending plan put forward by the previous Administration by $22.3 billion.

The second Supplementary Estimates tabled in Parliament yesterday by the People's National Party Administration saw the previous $546.7 billion budget being shaved down to $525.2 billion.

Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips had indicated earlier this month that the budget would be revised downward because of the fiscal constraints and to cover a forecasted $10 billion "fiscal gap" for the current financial year which ends in March.

Included in the reductions are a $50-million cut in the recurrent budget of the Customs Department, a $53.1-million cut in the recurrent budget of the Tax Administration of Jamaica, an over $1.5 billion chop in the recurrent budget of the Police Department, and a $102.9-million cut in the recurrent budget of the Department of Correctional Services.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade had its more than $2.633 billion budget cut by $110.7 million while the Ministry of Education had $564 million shaved off its $75.9 billion recurrent budget. $299.4 million was also cut from the recurrent budget of the Ministry of Youth and Culture.

Meanwhile, the Capital A budget (money for expenditure on projects) in the Office of the Prime Minister was shaved from $4.5 billion to $3.2 billion.

The Government has benchmarked $67,186,690 billion for the repayment of its internal debt and $60.8 billion for the repayment of its external debt.

The estimates have been referred to the Public Accounts and Appropriations Committee of Parliament which will meet to examine it next week. It will then go to the Standing Finance Committee of Parliament which will meet ahead of the sitting of the House of Representatives next Wednesday for its approval before being signed off by the Houses of Parliament.