PAAC review of first supplementary estimates stalled

Members of the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) ran into a major roadblock earlier today as they prepared to examine the First Supplementary Estimates of Expenditure that was tabled last week in Parliament by Finance and the Public Service Minister Dr Nigel Clarke.

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Committee chairman Dr Wykeham McNeill indicated that there were certain stipulations in the fiscal responsibility law that required the Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis to examine the revised budget where there are significant deviations in the primary balance target and the debt to GDP ratio.

The Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) also has a role in the process.

He insisted that this process has to be completed before the committee can examine the revised budget.

Finance and the Public Service Minister Dr Nigel Clarke had signalled that the primary balance would be lowered to 3.5 per cent of GDP for the financial year 2020/21.

The 2020/2021 budget was cast in the context of a 5.4 per cent primary balance.

McNeill told his colleagues that one of the mandates of the PAAC is to ensure that supplementary budget is properly before the committee.

Financial Secretary, Darlene Morrison, says the finance ministry is now in the process of making a submission to the Auditor General.

She says the PIOJ is also preparing its document for submission to the Auditor General.

Committee member Phillip Paulwell argued that although the COVID-19 had forced the Government to craft a revised budget, the committee could not proceed to review it until the rules in the Financial Administration and Audit Act are observed.

“We can’t willy-nilly today start to examine what really is a new budget for 2020/2021 in breach of the rules,” he said.

McNeill says the committee is prepared to meet at any time to examine the supplementary budget but it had a duty to ensure that established legislative rules are followed.

He said that the finance minister had indicated from March that the first supplementary estimates would have been tabled.

“It’s not a surprise budget,” he said.

The committee agreed to seek advice from the solicitor general and the minister of finance before proceeding.

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