The half-yearly review on the performance of this year’s $100 billion National Budget will be presented to the National Assembly this Thursday, Secretary to the Cabinet Dr Roger Luncheon said on Friday.
The review should have been presented by the end of August, according to the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act of 2003, which states that the report is due 60 days after the half-year mark, which was the end of June.
The delay in its presentation has been blamed on staff constraints at the Ministry of Finance and the government’s preoccupation with a number of national events earlier in the year.
Efforts on Friday and Saturday to contact Minister of Finance Dr Ashni Singh for an outline of what the review contained proved futile.
According to the act, the report must include an update on the current macro-economic and fiscal situation, a revised economic outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year and a statement of the projected impact that these trends are likely to have on the annual budget for the current fiscal year.
It should also contain a comparison report on the out-turned (the actual expenditure and income for the whole financial year) current and capital expenditures and revenues with estimates approved by the National Assembly with explanations of any significant variances, and a list of major risks for the remainder of the fiscal year, together with likely policy responses that the government proposes to take to meet the expected circumstances.
Owing to the implementation of the Value Added Tax (VAT) at the beginning of this year and because of concerns that VAT collection has been way above projection, this particular report is being awaited with great interest.
Since the passage of the FMAA in 2003, no review has been presented to the National Assembly for any of the National Budgets. With the preparations for the 2008 National Budget now in progress, critics have said that the late presentation of the half-yearly review is a poor reflection on the government.
