Appropriation Bill passed

The Appropriation Bill was passed unopposed in the National Assembly yesterday, following two weeks of debate and scrutiny of the government’s estimated expenditure for 2019, which is pegged at a total $300.7 billion.

The bill authorises the release of $277,431,968,000 from the Consolidated Fund to meet expenditure for the fiscal year ending December 31st, 2019. Not included was $23,227,043,000 in statutory expenditure, which was previously approved for constitutional agencies.

The bill’s fate has for the last few weeks been the subject of much speculation in light of the opposition’s no-confidence motion against the government that is to be considered by the National Assembly.

Former Speaker of the National Assembly Ralph Ramkarran had noted that while the opposition needs the support of at least two government Members of Parliament to ensure passage of its noconfidence motion, a tied vote on the Appropriation Bill would also see the government fall.

“The Appropriation Bill provides the authority for the government to spend. If they don’t have authority to spend state funds, not a cent, then that is end of the government. So forget the no-confidence motion down the road that needs two, just one person not there or vote against the Appropriation Bill, the government is finished,” he had told this newspaper.

However, when the bill was put to a vote yesterday, the only sounds in the House came from the government side, which unequivocally voted “yay.”

Included in this sum is $25.1 billion for the Ministry of Finance; $20.3 billion for Current Expenditure and $4.7 billion for Capital Expenditure.

Minister Winston Jordan, in presenting the Ministry’s estimates to the Committee of Supply yesterday, indicated that $1.4 billion had been allocated for initiatives under the Low Carbon Development Strategy initiated under the previous administration. The funds will provide for Amerindian Land Titling; adaptation projects, including rehabilitation of the Cunha Canal; institutional strengthening of the Department of Environment, the Office of Climate Change and the Project Management Office; Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Access and E-Service for Hinterland, Poor and Remote Communities, in areas such as Kaikan, Jawalla, Kurukubaru, Aranaputa, Shulinab, Toka and Surama; Sustainable Land Management and Development; as well as other interventions and studies.

Additionally, $12 million has been allocated for the modernisation of revenue and property tax assessments systems; and $250 million for the operationalisation of the national payments system specifically the establishment of national payments system infrastructure, including software and hardware for realtime gross settlement and central securities depository systems at the Bank of Guyana, Guyana Revenue Authority, National insurance Scheme and the Accountant General’s Department.

The Special Purpose Unit (SPU), whose functions the Minister explained are separated from those of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) has been allocated $200 million since NICIL is not in a position to fund its activities. The SPU has been set up to divest certain GuySuCo’s assets as part of the turnaround plan for the sugar industry.