Amidst the bustling atmosphere on the outskirts of Parliament, the National Assembly on Friday afternoon green-lighted the government’s fiscal spending for the year 2019.

The passage of the budget follows two weeks of debates and scrutiny and instances of passionate contributions by government and opposition Members of Parliament (MPs). After the Consideration of the Estimates and Expenditures concluded on Friday, Finance Minister Winston Jordan reported the conclusion of the scrutiny.

The Appropriations Bill 15/2018, which details the estimates for all ministries and which gives the government the authority to spend, was then tabled and passed in the House.

Budgeted allocations for several government agencies in 2019 are as follows:

-Ministry of Public Health -$35.9B

-Ministry of Social Protection-$18.2B

-Ministry of Communities- $8.3B

-Ministry of Public Telecommunications -$4B

-Ministry of Natural Resources-$1.44B

-Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs-$1.9B

-Ministry of Foreign Affairs -$6.8B

-Ministry of Public Infrastructure-$38.5B

-Ministry of Agriculture – $17.1B