An additional $24.5 billion has been added to the national budget, pushing the total to $998.2 billion for fiscal year 2022/23.

The increased amount is contained in the third supplementary estimates that were tabled in the House of Representatives on Tuesday by Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke.

Clarke said the increased amount will be realised from the expected increase in tax revenue which is expected to increase by $28 billion, arising from a higher growth estimate, as well as taxes arising from the planned additional spend on wages.

“Grant inflows are also programmed to increase by $1.1 billion while capital revenue, non-tax revenue and bauxite levy are programmed to be below the prior estimates,” the minister shared.

The third supplementary estimates will be perused and deliberated on by the Parliament’s Standing Finance Committee on Wednesday. It will then go before the Standing Finance Committee for examination and approval on Thursday.

Of note is that the estimates come a mere two months before the end of the current fiscal year, and Clarke has previously stated that they are necessary as they make provision for the payment of salary arrears (back pay) due to thousands of public sector workers, for whom wage arrangements have not yet been settled. Among the outstanding groups are teachers and members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force.

He reiterated on Tuesday that the additional expenditure is primarily to facilitate payments under the public sector compensation restructure which accounts for $23.7 billion of the supplementary amount.

“Contributing to this increased requirement are a combination of factors, including adjustments to the initial compensation restructure proposal following discussions with unions and bargaining groups, provision of a higher percentage of the third-year target in year one and the impact of overtime hours not accounted for in the estimate,” Clarke explained.

He emphasised that the amount for wages and salaries in the third supplementary estimates “represents what Jamaica can afford at this time”.

He noted that the estimates have wages and salaries at approximately 11.4 per cent of gross domestic product which he said represents a meaningful adjustment in aggregate.

The following provisions are also contained in the estimates:

-Expenditure on recurrent programmes is slated to increase by a net amount of $2.7 billion.

– Allocation of $1.8 billion as a one-off payment to travelling officers in relation to financial year 2021/22.

– $1.6 billion in subvention to the University Hospital of the West Indies to assist with compensation payments

– $300 million to supplement the increase to existing Government pensioners. Some of the increase has been covered by reallocations.

In the meantime, interest payments are estimated to increase by $2.0 billion, comprised of $1.8 billion on the external side and $0.2 billion on the domestic side. The increases are primarily reflecting interest and exchange rate changes.

And capital expenditure has declined by $2.3 billion, due to the inability of four projects to spend the allocated amounts before the fiscal year comes to an end and a reduction on the contingency provision for new projects. In addition, $1.1 billion has also been reallocated to the Southern Coastal Highway Improvement Project.