Jun 2015 Financial News

June 22 is THA Budget Day

Jun 15, 2015

The Tobago House of Assembly (THA) will present its 2016 Budget on June 22. The presentation, to be delivered by Secretary of Finance Joel Jack begins at 10 am and debate on the fiscal package is set for June 25.

Chief Secretary Orville London, who announced the date, said a budget of $6 billion was presented for the current fiscal year but the THA was allocated half that sum.

Currently, budget requests to Central Government are made under the line item approach. The fiscal allocation cannot cover all the items under the budget request, so variants must be done and the THA must pool money from various heads to meet its needs, London explained.

London said for decades the THA has been requesting its allocation “en bloc”—in one full payment—so that the money can be assigned, which would eliminate the existing laborious process of assigning funds.

He said the THA’s 2015 budget was recently increased by $110 million due to the recently-approved Variation of Appropriation Bill. However, this would not increase the funding available to the THA, since the money was earmarked to pay arrears of salary, wages and allowances due to teachers, civil servants, daily rated workers and State employees. The THA asked for $147 million but was allocated $37 million less. 

The Chief Secretary assured Tobago workers that paying them is a priority and the THA will transfer funds from other areas to ensure they are paid.

London said Tobago will not benefit from a $75 million increase Community-based Environment Protection and Enhancement Programme (Cepep) under the Variation of Appropriation Bill, which was debated in Parliament this week. He said the 2015 budget had provided for an increase of 340 contractors at a cost of $499 million but this only applied to Trinidad. The THA asked for $50 million for Cepe for fiscal 2015 but got $8 million.

For the Unemployment Relief Programme (URP) the THA received less than $18 million although that programme costs $70 million to operate. 

London accused Central Government of engaging in blatant electioneering in allocating funds.

Source:
Trinidad Guardian
Saturday June 13, 2015

http://www.guardian.co.tt/business/2015-06-13/june-22-tha-budget-day