Supplementary budget to be tabled soon

The Government is now formulating the first 2021/2022 supplementary estimates through which it will seek to address critical needs emerging in Jamaica since the approval of this year's $830.8-billion budget.

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr Nigel Clarke, says these priorities include expenditure pressures brought on by the rise in the intensity of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

“This first supplementary budget will address crucial financing requirements of the health sector, which are significant, as the government continues its efforts to reduce the health impact of the pandemic on the population, as well as more targeted support for vulnerable populations, among many other areas of acute expenditure needs at this time,” he indicated.

In a statement on Friday, Clarke said the decision to formulate the supplementary budget comes against the background of robust revenue outturns recorded for the first four months of the fiscal year, ending July 31.

He informed that revenues exceeded budgeted inflows by $17.3 billion, noting that this was among the factors spurring the primary balance surplus past the budgeted $26.4 billion target over the period.

“The robust revenue performance reflects the much higher than anticipated [gross domestic product] GDP growth, recently projected by the [Planning Institute of Jamaica] PIOJ at 12.9 per cent for April-June 2021, compared with the prior year, as Jamaica commenced its economic recovery from the initial economic impact of COVID-19 in the fiscal year 2020/21,” the finance minister stated.

Clarke pointed out, however, that while the government's actual spend for the period was $7.3 billion lower than programmed, “an underperformance of expenditure at a point in time does not reflect a reliable source of fiscal savings, as the expenditure may simply be delayed.”

It is anticipated that the first supplementary budget will be tabled in Parliament by the end of September, Clarke further indicated.

Follow The Gleaner on Twitter and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.