Finance Minister unsure of what will happen if opposition says no to $4.5B spending

Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh says he is oblivious to what will happen if the National Assembly does not vote to approve his spending of $4.5 billion of the $36.7 billion cut from Budget 2014.

At the same time, Singh says he is aware of cases where “nothing happened” following the National Assembly’s non-approval of money spent under identical circumstances.

He made these statements during a media briefing last evening as he again sought to explain the rationale behind his authorising expenditure totalling $4.5 billion from the Consolidated Fund after the National Assembly voted against the amounts earlier this year.

The briefing was called amidst a torrent of criticism levelled by observers, including the opposition groups