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Friday is Budget Day – Here’s what to expect

Posted: Thursday, March 9, 2023. 12:36 pm CST.

By Aaron Humes: As every Prime Minister has done before him and as he has done twice since taking office, John Briceño is expected to rise on Friday morning at the National Assembly to introduce, per its usual short title, “A Bill for an Act to appropriate certain sums of money for the use of the Public Service for the financial year ending March 31, 2024.”

This is the General Revenue and Appropriation Bill, commonly and informally referred to as the Budget. It is important because it is the primary instrument by which Belize functions – if there is no money to do anything, nothing gets done.

The Minister of Finance, which every Prime Minister has been since Independence, is legally authorized by Section 115 of the Constitution to “prepare and lay before the House of Representatives in each financial year estimates of the revenues and expenditures of Belize for the next following financial year,” with subsection 2 providing that “The heads of expenditure contained in the estimates…shall be included in a Bill, to be known as an Appropriation Bill, providing for the issue from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the sum necessary to meet that expenditure and the appropriation of those sums for the purposes specified therein.”

The actual papers containing the draft estimates are presented before the first reading, which takes the form of a ceremonial speech that typically outlines the Government’s priorities for the forthcoming fiscal year. In last year’s address, Prime Minister Briceño listed the following as рrіmаrу gоаlѕ: tо рrореrlу fund thе funсtіоnѕ оf thе рublіс аnd ѕесurіtу ѕеrvісеѕ; јudісіаrу; еduсаtіоn ѕесtоr; hеаlth саrе ѕесtоr (іnсludіng thе ехраnѕіоn оf thе Nаtіоnаl Неаlth Іnѕurаnсе (NНІ) ѕуѕtеm; іnfrаѕtruсturе ѕуѕtеm; аnd оthеrѕ. There will also be talk of the regional, international, and national performance including debt stock, employment, and other financial indicators.

The Act contains as prescribed each of the Ministries of the Government and associated departments along with the estimated monies appropriated for each. Last year, projected spending or expenditure was $1.217 billion compared to projected revenue of $1.048 billion, leaving a deficit which would be covered by various grants, loans, domestic borrowing and so on. The Government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) has pledged a sum of $50 million over four years for budget support.

The five major parts of the Budget are recurrent expenditure (monies spent every year by each Ministry, for instance on salaries); capital two expenditure (local capital programs which are funded from our own resources); capital three expenditure (funded from external loan and grant resources); capital transfer and net lending; and amortization. The Ministry of Finance is typically the biggest spender, followed by the Ministries of Education, Health, Home Affairs, and National Defence and Border Security. Specific offices including the Judiciary, Auditor General, and Public Prosecutions and bodies such as the Elections and Boundaries Commission and Public Service Commission are directly funded. Also usually presented is an Official Charities Motion to fund organizations deemed worthy of providing public service.

After the first reading the Budget is debated over two days, starting with a response from the Leader of the Opposition, after which other members weigh in. A vote is taken at the end of the second day after which the Bill goes to the Senate for a marathon debate, although it cannot be voted down for good as it would simply go back to the House as a money bill. The Budget is thereafter enacted by the Governor-General’s assent on April 1.

The Prime Minister has already said that this year’s Budget will include no new taxes and increased spending allocated to the return of increments for public officers and teachers as agreed last week and confirmed on Wednesday.

We will have full coverage of the reading of the Budget on Friday from Belmopan.

 

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