BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – AS the Federal Budget for the fiscal year 2010 remains suspended, a provisional general warrant has been officially signed and issued by Minister of Finance Hon. Dr. Timothy Harris, authorizing government expenditure for the short term.
The instrument, dated January 4, allows the issuance of funds from the Consolidated Fund or other public finances for the carrying on of the services of the government. To legalize expenditures by the Accountant-General on behalf of the government in the absence of a budget, the provisional general warrant was signed and would take immediate effect.
It authorizes the payment of salaries, wages, other charges and capital expenditures during the first four months of the year.
Provision for this is cited in the Constitution Section 72, which permits the Minister of Finance to authorize the withdrawal of moneys from the Consolidated Fund for the “purpose of meeting expenditure necessary to carry on the services of the Government until the expiration of four months from the beginning of that financial year or the coming into being of the Appropriation Act, whichever is earlier.”
Therefore, the provisional instrument ceases to exist when the Federal Budget for 2010 is passed in National Parliament.
Minister Harris said the decision to issue the provisional warrant is not a novel one and he referenced a number of times the government has had to make use of the provision.
“This is not the first occasion that an Appropriation Act for the financial year was not passed by the beginning of the year. In 1989, the budget was presented on January 24th; the 1994 Budget was presented on February 28th; and in 2005 the Budget was on February 22nd,” he stated.
Although he did not disclose the details of the upcoming budget, Harris indicated that it would attempt to address issues of importance for youth, provide ongoing stimulus for businesses and allocate a “critical chunk” to national security.
In response to questions of introducing new and/or augmenting existing taxes, Harris said, “these are always matters of consideration”.
