BY Gary Hatigeva
$213.4million is projected to be the government’s 2019 Budget Support expenditure.
This will be allocated to five ministries through donor partners.
The Ministries are, the Ministry of Health and Medical Services, allocated with an estimate of over $134million, the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development, with an allocated estimate of over $65million, the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, with an estimated allocation of just above $7million, the Ministry of Police, National Security and Correctional Services, with an allocated estimate of $4.2million.
The Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Natural Disaster and Meteorology on the other hand, gets the lowest allocation estimate of $2.2million under the budget support expenditure.
Meanwhile, under its Development Expenditure estimates, the 2019 Appropriation projected a total of over $540million, with the Ministry of Rural Development allocated with the biggest estimate of $120million, while the Ministry of Home Affairs gets the smallest estimate of $500,000, however, the estimated allocations for the rest fall within the range of these two.
According to the Bill, a further $100.9million is forecasted to be spent through statutory changes on the Consolidated Fund, including $78.3million to be exhausted on National Debt Repayments.
The Appropriation Bill also outlines that the government’s limits of borrowing from both its internal and external aid donors/development partners, has been directed not to go be more than $100million.
The PAC hearing into the 2019 budget is expected to use all of this week to go through the 2019 Appropriation. With this, Parliament officials are reminding responsible officials within respective ministries, to show commitment in this particular session as time is very short.
Officials stressed that the committee will need to a little more time after the hearing program, to compile and complete reports for both the 2018 Supplementary Appropriation Bill (2), and the 2019 Appropriation Bill 2018. This is before parliament resumes Tuesday next week.
