Two Fridays ago, the National Assembly approved two financial papers presented by the Minister of Finance seeking Supplementary Estimates in the sum of $40.8 billion. This was one day before the Assembly was expected to proceed on a two-month recess. Financial Paper No. 1 relates to two advances made from the Contingencies Fund amounting to $8.6 billion covering the period 1 April to 30 July 2024 to meet additional operational costs of Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Inc. – $4.0 billion); Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) – $534 million); and Guyana Sugar Corporation (Guysuco) – $4.043 billion. Financial Paper No. 2 covers a Supplementary Estimate of $32.2 billion for both capital and current expenditure in the amounts of $11.7 billion and $20.5 billion, respectively.
In our last week’s article, we stated that when introducing a supplementary appropriation Bill in the Assembly, the Minister must give reasons for the proposed variations and provide a supplementary document describing the impact that the variations, if approved, will have on the financial plan outlined in the annual budget. This is provided for under Section 24 of the Fiscal Management and Accountability (FMA) Act. However, the reasons given for the request for increased funds were somewhat brief, as shown in Tables I and II, necessitating legislators requesting clarification from the relevant Ministers.