Shaw

FOR THE first time in the country's history, Jamaica's national budget has inched over the $500-billion mark.

A combined increase of $9.7 billion in recurrent expenditure for the ministries of Education and Health has helped pushed the revised estimates to $507.9 billion, up from the $489.5 billion that Parliament approved in April.

In tabling the revised estimates at Gordon House yesterday, Audley Shaw, the minister of finance and the public service, said the Standing Finance Committee of the House is due to examine the revised provisions next Tuesday morning. Later that day, the whole House is slated to give its approval.

The revised estimates represent an $18.4-billion increase, $4.86 billion of which is recurrent expenditure and $13.57 billion of which is slated to be spent on capital projects.

Among the ministries to get significant increases for recurrent expenditure are the Ministry of National Security, whose budget moved from $8.1 billion to $8.9 billion; the Ministry of Health, whose recurrent expenditure moved from $23.5 billion to $26.16 billion and the Ministry of Education that received a $7-billion increase to cover recurrent expenditure.

The Ministry of Transport and Works' allocation for capital spending has been increased on the Capital A side of the Budget from $2.5 billion to nearly $4.5 billion.

The recurrent allocation for agriculture increased by $284 million. However, allocations for Capital B, which cover multilateral and bilateral projects, have been reduced by $227 million.

Capital A allocations to the Ministry of Agriculture have also been slashed by $308.7 million.

Sliced off

Meanwhile, the allocation to the Ministry of National Security to cover recurrent expenses has been increased by $902.5 million. At the same time, $80.4 million of the money that was allocated for the ministry to carry out electoral matters was sliced off.

Turbulent world economic conditions, as well as what the Opposition People's National Party had said was a budget that was "not credible", saw Shaw missing almost all budget targets this year.

Capital spending at the end of November was $18.3 billion, $10 billion less than what Government had budgeted to spend on infrastructure and projects at the end of the period.

Revenues were also below projections. The State intended at the end of November to collect $183.4 billion but was $13.7 billion below target.

daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com