BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - COLLECTIVELY, over $ 230M has been apportioned to the various Government Ministries based on the 2103 Budget Speech presented today (Apr. 9) by Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas.
PM Douglas informed the nation that the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs has been allocated $6,316,336 for its Recurrent Expenditure for 2013, which represents an increase of $1,022,362 or 19.3 percent over the 2012 Estimate.
As for his office, Office of the Prime Minister, $51,989,115 has been allocated for 2013 Recurrent Expenditure, and this amount represents an increase of $10,626,398 or 25.7 percent over the 2012 allocation.
The Ministry of Homeland Security and Labour has been allocated $11,097,220 to carry out its recurrent programmes and activities for the fiscal year 2013.
Dr. Douglas said the Ministry of International Trade, Industry, Commerce and Consumer Affairs has been allocated $2,776,518 for 2013, representing a 6.7 percent decrease below the 2012 allocation as a result of the closure of the Supply Office.
The Ministry of Finance’s allocation for 2013 is $161,538,531 for Recurrent Expenditure, which PM Douglas said is a decrease of $3,279,592 or two percent when compared to the Estimate for 2012.
The Ministry of Social and Community Development, Culture and Gender Affairs has been allocated $7,463,096 for Recurrent Expenditure and $3,906,325 for Capital Expenditure for 2013.
And the Ministry of Agriculture, Marine Resources and Cooperatives has been provided with $6,531,415 for Recurrent Expenditure for 2013.
According to Dr. Douglas, this represents an increase of $1,379,437 over its allocation for 2012.
The Finance Minister revealed that the Ministry of Tourism and International Transport has been allocated $17,764,969 to carry out its programmes and activities for fiscal year 2013.
The Ministry of Housing, Public Works, Energy and Public Utilities recurrent allocation for 2013 is $15,087,437 which represents a decrease of $10,865,399.
PM Douglas claimed that “the reduction was due to the transfer of resources that were previously allocated to this Ministry for the payment of government’s electricity bills to the Accountant General’s Department”.
The Ministry of Education and Information has been allocated $56,662,112 for Recurrent Expenditure for 2013. This represents an increase of $2,334,773 or 4.3 percent over the 2012 allocation.
“This increase is notable in these challenging economic times and demonstrates my government’s commitment to the education of our citizens at every level”, Dr. Douglas declared.
For the Ministry of Health, as outlined by him, $34,680,562 has been provided for Recurrent Expenditure for 2013; a small increase over the allocation for 2012.
Additionally, the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sports, Information Technology, Telecommunications and Posts has been provided with $8,049,532 for Recurrent Expenditure and $3,220,105 for Capital Expenditure.
PM Douglas added: “Youth empowerment remains at the centre of the work of this Ministry.”
The Ministry of Sustainable Development has been supplied with $4,660,785 for Recurrent Expenditure and $9,316,715 for Capital Expenditure to carry out its programmes and activities for 2013, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is assigned $14,347,255 for Recurrent Expenditure.
As it pertains to the government’s revenue expectations for the upcoming fiscal year, Dr. Douglas said the “Recurrent Revenue for 2013 has been projected at $464,370,444 which is $63,057,778 or 15.7 percent above the 2012 Estimates”.
