Introduction

Five months after the passage of the largest budget ever, Minister of Finance Dr Ashni Singh has gone back to the National Assembly for an additional $6.3 billion for spending this year. Some sketchy information for this sum is contained in Financial Papers Nos 1 and 2, the first being a Supplementary Provision to replenish the Contingencies Fund to the tune of $1,978 million and the second a Supplementary Provision of $4.3 billion for additional spending. Today’s column looks at the information and questions whether they meet the statutory requirements governing such additional expenditure.

The law relating to such spending and approvals is contained in the constitution and in the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act 2003 (FMAA). There are two types of supplementary provisions permissible under the Act: those that come before the spending takes place and those that come after such spending and in which case would have been spent out of advances…..