WHEN the new session of Parliament officially opens on today, Finance and the Public Service Minister Dr Nigel Clarke will table a budget for the upcoming fiscal year which is expected to be well above the previous trillion-dollar mark.

The new budget for 2024/25 is expected to make allocation for, among other things, the Government’s $40-billion SPARK (Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Improvement to our Road Network) programme.

SPARK is designed to address secondary, parochial and community roads across the island over the next three years.

The 2023/24 budget saw total expenditure of $1.092 trillion, which was a reduction of $2.5 billion on the approved budget, following the presentation and approval of the third supplementary estimates in September last year.

Of significance, the budget reflected capital expenditure of $59.3 billion, down from $66.6 billion.

Clarke, in presenting the fourth supplementary estimates last month, explained to the House that as the end of the fiscal year approached, the Government took stock of the performance trends of both revenue and expenditure, thus the adjustments to the existing budget for both the central government and public bodies.

“The fourth supplementary estimates provided for the reallocation of resources from currently identified activities to other activities,” he said. He noted that where current allocations could not be spent over the remaining seven weeks of the fiscal year, those allocations have been redirected.

Clarke said the reduction in capital spend was due to the slow pace of project implementation on some projects, “particularly those that involve lots of coordination among many activities and lots of moving parts”. This, he said, has resulted in the “inability to utilise the full allocation during the year”.

In the meantime, the ceremonial opening of Parliament is slated to take place at George William Gordon House beginning at 11:00 am. Governor General Sir Patrick Allen is scheduled to deliver the Throne Speech where he will outline the Government’s legislative agenda for the new parliamentary year.

Following the ceremony, the House of Representatives will reconvene at 2:00 pm for the tabling of the 2024/25 Estimates of Expenditure by Dr Clarke.