Robinson chides the Gov't for 'continued failure' to execute capital budget

Opposition Spokesman on Finance, Julian Robinson, says the Government must act with urgency to reform procurement, accelerate project execution and create the conditions for higher sustained growth following a report from the Independent Fiscal Commission (IFC) in which it flagged the Government for under execution in capital spending.

The IFC said only $20.1 billion was spent in the first quarter of financial year 2025/26, compared with a budgeted amount of $40.5 billion. It cautioned that this underspending, particularly on infrastructure projects, poses risks to much needed economic growth.

In a media release on Wednesday evening, Robinson said the country cannot afford what he said was the Government’s repeated failure to execute its capital budget, especially at a time when stronger economic growth is urgently needed to boost revenues and strengthen Jamaica’s fiscal position.

“At the very time when the Government needs higher levels of growth to generate additional revenues, the persistent under-execution of capital projects is constraining economic expansion," he said.

He pointed out that the figures from the IFC show that nearly half of the planned capital spending has gone unexecuted in the first quarter of the fiscal year, representing a pattern of underspending by the Government.

“This follows an underspend of $19 billion on the capital budget in FY 2024/25 and an almost $9 billion shortfall in FY 2023/24,” Robinson said. “It is clear that we now have an unacceptable pattern of chronic under-execution. This will only continue unless the Government tackles the inefficiencies and bottlenecks in the public procurement system that are strangling the implementation of critical projects.”

He drew a contrast with the Dominican Republic where, he said, the government has committed to a multi-year National Infrastructure Investment Plan of US$12 billion, of which US$9.6 billion has already been spent, with ongoing execution of major infrastructure projects across all provinces.

In addition, he said the Dominican Republic government recently submitted a supplementary budget increasing capital expenditure by 0.4 per cent of GDP to sustain public investment growth during this financial year.

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