Senate approves Bill

The Appropriation Bill, 2022 has been passed in the Upper Chamber.

The senators approved the Bill on Tuesday after three days of robust debate.

Minister of Tourism and International Transport Lisa Cummins, who is also leader of Government Business in the Senate, in wrapping up the debate, said the Bill contains developmental programmes that are critical to the country’s future path.

“If you look at the Estimates of Expenditure, we are being asked to approve 1.8 billion dollars for this financial year. This represents the non-statutory expenditure that we are expected to take responsibility for during the course of this year. The non-statutory expenditure relates to all of the things which are exclusive of salaries and wages and recurring expenses.

“But then we have the statutory expenses and it brings a total estimate of expenditure for this financial year as a Government to $3.7 billion. That is what we are spending, versus what we are approving during the course of the financial year.

“The Estimates of Revenue project that we are meant to earn $3.2 billion and there is meant to be a shortfall of approximately $528 million. Now where does that $528 million come from? It comes from the Budgetary Statement and Financial Proposals that the Prime Minister [Mia Amor Mottley] spoke about in the other place last week,” Cummins said.

The senator said that while many of the measures to be taken have been discussed regarding whether they are right, fair or just, the public should note that there is a direct correlation between what government earns and spends which generates growth and revenue for investing in social services.

“When we talk about the ability to collect garbage, when we talk about the ability for people to get from home to school, and home to work, on buses when they do not have cars, the kinds of things we are talking about are things that are captured in a deficit in revenue and expenditure.

“They are the things that all of us, whether we are at the top of the income bracket or at the bottom of the income bracket, that we all require as social services. So, a government cannot always agree to give all of the things in a given financial year that we may want.

“Neither can it always agree to do all of the things that as a society we need to have happen in a given financial year. Because just like in our households, we have to manage what our income looks like versus what are our budget for spending looks like,” Cummins said. (AH)