By: Linda Straker
December 9, 2022
- Opposition Leader points to budget inconsistencies for ministries of Agriculture and Infrastructure
- Dr Mitchell became Opposition Leader in June 2022
- Rebuttal from Opposition Leader begins budget debate in Lower House
Opposition Leader Dr Keith Mitchell in his response to the EC$1.3 billion budget or Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure, claimed that some allocations, as presented by Finance Minister Dickon Mitchell in his budget statement, are inconsistent with the actual allocation in the budget estimates.
“Based on the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure, these areas have gone up by 2 million and 5 million, respectively. I remain baffled by the inconsistency between what was said in the budget and the numbers in the estimates,” he said in response to the budget statement presented to the Lower House of Parliament on Monday, 5 December 2022.
“Mr Speaker, the Minister of Finance and Prime Minister stated on page 12 of his budget statement that the budget for the Ministry of Agriculture is EC$54.3 million, the largest ever with a EC$14.3 million increase. Mr Speaker, I am not sure what Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure the Prime Minister was reading, but the budget for the Ministry of Agriculture as set out on page 468 of the Estimates is EC$39.4 million,” he told the House.
Identifying other discrepancies, the Opposition Leader pointed to the Ministry of Infrastructure having had the largest budget of EC$143.1 [million] as stated on page 12 of the budget speech the Minister of Finance gave. “However, page 338 of the Estimates contradicts his quoted numbers reflecting a budget of $131 million — $98 million less than what was spent by the efforts of the NNP administration. Mr Speaker, it baffles me that the Minister of Finance and Prime Minister presented numbers in a speech, making grand statements that contradict the actual estimates which is the most important document,” he said.
“In other words, there is one in the Prime Minister’s speech and one in the document. I don’t which one to believe…but it cannot remain so. They have to mesh, they have to be consistent. These glaring errors continue to show a disconnect between the budget speech presented and what was actually budgeted by the Government.” Dr Mitchell became Opposition Leader in June 2022 after his New National Party lost the general election.
The Prime Minister presented the 2023 budget on Monday under the theme “Vision 2035 — People-Centred Transformation, laying the foundation for resilience, empowerment, and growth.” The rebuttal from the Opposition Leader is the start of the budget debate in the Lower House. Following the debate in the Lower House, the Estimates will be forwarded to the Upper House or Senate for further debate and approval.
Originally published in the New Grenada