Revised Budget to be tabled today
Published:Tuesday | January 11, 2022 | 12:08 AM
The Government will today put forward the Second Supplementary Estimates of Expenditure in Gordon House, the seat of Jamaica’s Parliament, ahead of next month’s tabling of the 2022-23 Budget.
The Gleaner understands that it became necessary for the administration to table a Second Supplementary Estimates of Expenditure as it inked wage agreements late last year with a number of bargaining groups in the public sector.
Additional sums are expected to be included in the estimates to facilitate the payout of the four per cent increase to the public sector workers this month and retroactive sums dating back to April 2021.
It is also anticipated that increased allocations will be pumped into the Ministry of Education to address the significant fallout in the sector owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In September last year, the Government tabled the First Supplementary Estimates of Expenditure, increasing spending by about four per cent to tackle the spread and impact of COVID-19.
The Budget had increased by about $36.5 billion last September, with more than half of that sum having gone towards fighting the virus.
The First Supplementary Estimates increased the Budget to $867 billion for fiscal year 2021-2022. It had a recurrent budget of $813.1 billion and capital stood at $54.2 billion.
The Public Administration and Appropriations Committee of Parliament is expected to review the Second Supplementary Estimates of Expenditure on Wednesday.
On Thursday, the Standing Finance Committee will sign off on the estimates before it is debated and passed in the Lower House.
Other committees meeting this week are the Infrastructure and Physical Development Committee and the Joint Select Committee reviewing The Electricity Act, 2015.
Meanwhile, Julian Robinson, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, has said that the committee will resume sittings next week.
He told The Gleaner that a series of meetings have been planned to examine several reports from the Auditor General’s Department.