( L - R ) Shaw and Davies The first supplementary estimates of expenditure, setting out additional Government spending of about $14 billion for the current fiscal year, was approved by the House of Representatives on Tuesday, amid charges from Opposition Spokesman on Finance, Audley Shaw, that his counterpart deceived the country when he fashioned a $358 billion budget last April.
After a revision, the total spending for the 2006/2007 financial year amounts to $372 billion.
Major expenditure items that contributed to the $14 billion net increase included public sector wage hike of about $4.5 billion and interest payments on debt amounting to $4.6 billion. Other expenses included travel, expenditure to prepare the Electoral Office of Jamaica for elections this year, sums allocated for Cricket World Cup 2007 and Jamaica's contribution to a catastrophe risk insurance to obtain coverage against disasters.
In a debate where members traded insults across the floor of the House, Mr. Shaw suggested that the budget crafted by the Government last year was "deceptive", charging that Finance and Planning Minister Dr. Omar Davies had misled Parliament.
"He has now worked it into an art, where he puts forward what he is going to do then he uses all kinds of mechanisms, some of them include the recapitalisation of money and debt rescheduling," Mr. Shaw declared.
The debt picture
According to the Opposition spokesman, the Government has had to reschedule debt instruments of $5.8 billion over two and a half years, "masking the full impact of the debt picture in relation to the budget".
"Had this $5.8 billion not been rescheduled, then we would be talking about approximately $16 billion of additional debt that has to be brought on to the supplementary estimates," Shaw argued.
He also criticised the Government for its $6 billion overspending on public sector wages.
Calling some Opposition members hypocrites, Dr. Davies said while they condemned the higher-than-projected increases in public sector wages, others within their ranks had called on the Government to offer a more attractive package to the police and teachers.
Wage freeze
He defended the wage package for the public sector, noting that civil servants had taken a wage freeze over a two-year period in the interest of the country.
Dr. Davies commended the union leaders on the other side of the political divide for rejecting arguments that the wage settlements were exorbitant and should be cut.
"Although this additional expenditure will have implications for widening the deficit, I do not resile from the position of defending it," he said.
