Minister with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh yesterday told reporters that his office is working to have the 2021 Budget presented before the end of February.
Several hours later the Minister tabled in the National Assembly an amendment to the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act (FMAA) which he argued would allow for a comprehensive examination of Budget 2021.
A statement from Singh’s office explained that the amendment will repeal changes made to the Act by the APNU+AFC government and “ensure the streamlining of the budget process in relation to constitutional agencies”.
“The critical piece of legislation…seeks to amend the FMAA Chapter 73:02 to allow for the correction of a number of anomalies relating to the budget process applicable to constitutional agencies,” the statement said adding that these corrections will not affect the independence of these agencies.
Currently a 2015 amendment to the FMAA requires that the budgets of constitutional agencies be sent to the National Assembly in advance of the submission of the rest of the National Budget.
“This two-stage process resulted in a fragmented and inefficient process for consideration of the National Budget and denied the Parliament an opportunity to view and consider the budget in a comprehensive manner,” Singh argued, while reiterating that the proposed amendment is important for Budget 2021.
