Golding: Gov’t to undertake ‘large sale’ of future income to help fund budget

Leader of the Opposition Mark Golding says the Ministry of Finance has confirmed that there will be another “large sale” of future income in the upcoming financial year.

Jamaica's budget for the current financial year, which ends on March 31, was funded by over $70 billion of non-tax revenue from the sale of 12 years of future revenues from the Norman Manley International Airport, he noted.

According to Golding, those funds were used to fund a “one-time so-called” reverse income tax credit and one year of “some other” tax relief that are going to be ongoing annual costs to the budget.

Making his contribution to the 2025-2026 Budget Debate, the opposition leader noted that the revenue estimates for the upcoming fiscal year have $139.8 billion of non-tax revenues, including financial distributions of $66.2 billion.

The Opposition Leader said he enquired of the finance ministry about the make-up of this $66.2 billion.

“I was told that the major sources are the National Housing Trust (NHT) and the ‘monetisation of contractual cash flow’,” he said.

Noting that the government is already taking $11.4 billion out of the NHT annually, Golding suggested that the remaining $54.8 million would come from the ‘monetisation of contractual cash flow’.

“I enquired further of the Ministry of Finance and it has been confirmed that another large sale of future income is to take place in the coming year. However, despite my asking, no further details have been provided,” he said.

“Clearly, this will be another ‘run with it’ transaction, selling off future revenues to fund expenditure in this year’s budget. In other words, further emptying the cupboard in the coming years with nothing lasting to show for it.”

- Livern Barrett

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