PREPARATIONS on Budget 2015 are ongoing, but with May 11 announced as the date for General and Regional elections, its presentation will be made to the 11th Parliament.

This was the clarification offered by Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS), Dr. Roger Luncheon, when asked by the Guyana Chronicle yesterday during his weekly post Cabinet press briefing.
“Ongoing preparations for the 2015 Budget continue…there is a budget and the budget is being prepared,” he stressed.
He acknowledged that President Donald Ramotar’s announcement on Tuesday about a definite move to the polls has elicited concerns about the National Budget and access to funding for budget agencies.
However, Dr. Luncheon underscored the fact that given the current state of affairs, the routine presentation of the National Budget is not expected to follow similar timelines as in previous year.
“There is not any significant reason why the Budget for 2015 would not be, as is usual- prepared. What is obviously different about Budget 2015 is its presentation (which will be done) to the 11th Parliament, subsequent to the conclusion of General and Regional Elections,” he said.

APRIL DEADLINE
Constitutionally, a National Budget must be approved by the National Assembly and signed off by the Head of State by April 30 in any given year.
However, with the May 11 elections announcement, Parliament is expected to be dissolved before that.
As such, spending is governed by Article 220 (3) of the Constitution.
Once Parliament is dissolved, the relative proclamation will activate the provisions of Article 220 paragraph 3, which states that if Parliament is dissolved before any actions are taken to authorise monies from public funds, “The minister responsible for finance may authorise the withdrawal of such sums from the Consolidated Fund.”
The minister must, however, prove that monies taken from the Consolidated Fund are used for the purpose “of meeting expenditure on the public services.”
The Consolidated Fund in normal circumstances could be accessed only by support from the National Assembly.
The procedure follows that after the new Parliament meets, a statement must be presented to the National Assembly by the Finance Minister or any other minister who was identified by the President. “When the statement has been approved by the Assembly, that expenditure shall be included, under the appropriate heads, in the next Appropriation Bill,” the legislation also reads.

SPENDING UNDER PROROGATION
Until Parliament is dissolved, it currently still stands under prorogation – following the November 10 proclamation by President Ramotar.
During this period, there are also laws that govern Government spending.
According to the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, a combination of Article 219 of the Constitution and the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act, provides that in any financial year the Government is empowered to spend one twelfth of the Budget of the preceding year in continuing to provide the normal services of the Government of Guyana, until an Appropriation Act is passed.
“This position obtains, whether Parliament is in session or not, or whether there will be Elections or no Elections. Indeed, if Parliament was in session, the National Assembly could not have prevented this constitutional and legal formula in relation to spending during this period (before the new Budget is passed) from being applied,” Nandlall said.

STARTED IN 2014
Until further action is taken, the Budget preparations are expected to continue.
Preparations started last year, and last September a budget call circular was issued to various Government ministries and agencies requesting the commencement of compilation of their budget submissions.
As per norm, submissions received are reviewed through several rounds of meetings, after which analysis will be done and then they will be consolidated into the National Budget.
Submissions from ministries and agencies routinely include information on policy recommendations, detailed articulations of various programmes and projects the ministries would like to implement in 2009, and some articulation of the expected impacts and outcomes that would arise from the implementation of these programmes and projects.
Additionally, last year, there was a meeting between the Director of Budget and all Permanent Secretaries to facilitate discussion of requirements articulated in the budget circular.
The Ministry’s Budget Office facilitates the preparation of the country’s annual revenues and expenditure estimates, effective and efficient management and monitoring of resource allocation and utilisation combined with the formulation of constructive and effective economic policy.

(By Vanessa Narine)