$32 billion added to budget
THE 2017/18 Estimates of Expenditure (budget) has now risen to $742 billion, Minister of Finance and the Public Service Audley Shaw has announced.
Shaw disclosed the new figure in his opening statement at Tuesday’s meeting of the Standing Finance Committee of the House of Representatives, which is comprised of all members of Parliament, at Gordon House.
The original estimates tabled on February 9, when the new session of Parliament opened, stated total budget spending of approximately $710 billion, a near 20 per cent increase over the 2016/17 budget of $592.5 billion.
But new figures provided by the minister on Tuesday showed that, in addition to the figures already presented, the Government would spend $32 billion more, which was generated from user charges and fees earned mainly by its executive agencies.
