Prime Minister P.J. Patterson (right) and Leader of the Opposition Edward Seaga lead Members of Parliament from both sides of the House into Gordon House yesterday, for a special ceremony marking the start of the 2002/2003 legislative year. - Rudolph Brown/Staff Photographer GOVERNMENT SPENDING for the new fiscal year has been cut by $9.8 billion from last year's revised figures.
Finance and Planning Minister, Dr. Omar Davies, yesterday tabled a $210.0 billion Estimates of Expenditure for the 2002-2003 fiscal year. The figures are 13.2 per cent higher than last year's $185.4 billion approved Budget. The Ministry of Finance and Planning got the lion's share of the Budget, $71.8 billion on the recurrent side and $76.9 billion in capital spending, giving it a total of $148.7 billion. This amounts to 70.1 per cent of the Budget and most of it is for paying public sector debt.
"Debt cost continues to consume us," financial analyst John Jackson told The Gleaner. He said it is a major charge on the Budget, crowding out other spending.
"This is a 'carrying on' Budget," Mr. Jackson said. He said there is little leeway in it for the extra spending normally expected, in what Prime Minister P.J. Patterson has said is to be an election year.
A senior public sector official, who did not wish to be identified, said the key issue in this year's Budget as well as last year's was the FINSAC debt. The 2001/2002 Budget was revised upwards in February largely to account for the cost of the FINSAC debt from the bailout of troubled financial institutions.
The overall Estimates for recurrent spending in this year's Budget is $124.9 billion. This is $11.2 billion more than last year's revised level, a 9.8 per cent increase. Recurrent spending represents the ongoing expenses of Government such as salaries, rent and utility bills.
Capital spending is estimated at $85.1 billion this year. This is $21.0 billion less than last year's revised level, or a 19.8 per cent fall. Capital expenditures include items such as schools, land and equipment which increase the stock of wealth of the country.
The National Security Ministry will see increased allocations on both the recurrent and capital sides, an indication of the Government's commitment to fighting crime. At the same time, key Ministries like Tourism and Sport and Health will see cuts in their expenses.
On the recurrent side, total allocation to the Ministry of National Security, which was formerly twinned with Justice, is $11.673 billion, an increase of nearly $500m over the revised estimates for 2001-2002. On the capital side, the allocation of $1 billion in the 2002-2003 Estimates of Expenditure is significantly more than the $167,440 million contained in the revised estimates for 2001-2002.
The Ministry of Education has seen a $1.5b increase in its recurrent expenses. For 2002-2003, $20.659b has been allocated for recurrent expenditure. On the capital side, $400 million has been approved this year.
The key Tourism and Sport Ministry, considered the nation's bread basket, has seen reductions to both its capital and recurrent expenses. On the capital side, a mere $240 million has been allocated for the 2002-2003 fiscal year, compared to a revised estimate of $410.376m for the previous period. The cut on the recurrent side is in the region of $284 million. Whereas $2.294b was spent last year, only $2.010b has been set aside this year.
At the Health Ministry, $8.139b has been set aside for recurrent expenses, $73 million less than the previous year. Only $100 million has been set aside on the capital side, $37m less than the 2001/2002 period.
