The government shifted the presentation of the Estimates of Revenues and Expenditure for the financial year 2017 to November 28, to accommodate the PPP/C’s upcoming congress as its dates would have clashed with the debates, Minister of Finance Winston Jordan, said on Monday while subtly chiding Parliament for announcing the new date and not giving him the opportunity to so.
During his last presentation to the National Assembly, President David Granger had announced that Budget Day would be December 5.
Since that time, Jordan said there had been other issues, not least of which was the fact that the PPP will be holding its congress and had certain days it would have liked to be blocked out.
The PPP has announced that its 31st Congress will be held in Essequibo from December 16 to 18 under the theme: ‘Strengthen the Party, Defend Democracy, Onward to Victory.’
“In the spirit of compromise, we have deliberated and decided and advanced the date of the budget to November 28…,” the minister said.
Meantime, the minister also requested that the announcement of budget dates be left up to the executive and more so to him.
“Sir…, I wish that this date and the budget itself remain within the purview of the executive… I say this because there have been so many different other individuals, other than the Minister of Finance, who have been speculating about this date. I have seen up to just now reading in a certain ‘parliamentary corner’ a date of the budget being announced without the Minister of Finance being given the courtesy of doing so. I would wish that this courtesy be extended to the Minister of Finance before the date of the budget is announced…,” the minister said.
The public was informed of the new date through ‘The Parliament Corner’ advertisement in the newspapers.
