KINGSTON, Jamaica – The House of Representatives, on Tuesday, approved the first supplementary estimates for the 2025/26 fiscal year.

The 2025/26 Estimates of Expenditure has now moved from $1,260,048,978 to $1,270,538,106.

In her remarks, Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Fayval Williams, said the estimates will facilitate the allocation of $58.1 billion to ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs).

She informed that of this sum, $55.6 billion is earmarked to cover additional salaries and allowances arising from agreements between the Government and public-sector unions and staff associations during fiscal year 2024/25.

“This supplementary also takes into consideration the $1.1 billion for the three per cent subsidy on residential electricity usage as expenditure in the central government expenditure budget, and $1.4 billion for the acquisition of 110 buses for the rural school bus service,” the minister stated.

Additionally, she said it “facilitates the transfer of $35.3 billion from the contingencies allocation…to assist in financing the additional expenditure of the MDAs and the reprioritisation of expenditure totalling $12.3 billion within the 2025/26 approved Budget to assist in financing the additional spending of the MDAs”.

Williams stated that approximately $48.1 billion of the committed funds fall under the ‘compensation of employees’ category, including $23.6 billion allocated for advancement along substantive salary bands for eligible central government employees, effective April 1, 2025, in accordance with the agreement reached with the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU).

“There’s also $16.3 billion for extra hours worked, and that’s arrears and new rates payable for employees who perform approved hours of work beyond their scheduled weekly work time, with effect from August 1, 2024. Of this $16.3 billion being requested, approximately $5.8 billion relates to the Ministry of Health and Wellness, including the Bellevue Hospital; $2.5 billion represents new rate only for the [Jamaica] Fire Brigade under the Ministry of Local Government [and Community Development], and $5.3 billion for the police department, based on current levels of spending,” she said.

“There’s also $5.6 billion of salary arrears, $3.6 billion of that due to the medical consultants, $195 million to paramedics and psychiatric nurse aides, and $1.7 billion to correctional officers. There’s also $2.3 billion for uniform allowance, and that includes arrears and new rate payable under the new uniform policy and applicable with effect from April 1, 2024, to all public sector employees who are required to be uniformed as determined by the ministries, departments, agencies and public bodies,” the minister added.

Williams also stated that $2.3 billion has been allocated to the Ministry of Health and Wellness.

Additionally, $10 billion has been allocated, with $4.7 billion directed to the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI), including $2.8 billion earmarked for arrears and revised compensation rates for medical consultants.

For the University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech), $1.4 billion has been allocated as the second tranche payment under the parity agreement, which introduced new salary arrangements aimed at aligning compensation with sector benchmarks and staff contributions.

“This sum has already been advanced to UTech through the budget of the Ministry of Education [Skills, Youth and Information], and is to be assigned as expenditure in the supplementary estimates,” Williams said.

“So those are some of the major numbers in the supplementary [estimates]. There will be a redirection of funds in order to continue to have the balanced budget for this supplementary,” she added.

–         JIS