Minister of Finance Audley Shaw managed to create a huge fiscal surplus before planned increased spending in March.
Government of Jamaica would end up with a huge surplus for the 2017/18 fiscal year with revenues to February running well ahead of forecast and expenditure sharply lower than budgeted, but even with increased spending planned for March, the surplus could still be large.
Figures released by the Ministry of Finance to February showing a large surplus, the fiscal year was set to achieve a huge surplus around the $50 billion. The likelihood of this huge surplus resulted in government trying to spend as much as possible in March, to reduce the excess that has built up. One item that the government earmarked for payment to reduce the surplus funds to February, is the payment of the increase in civil servants’ salaries. Up to February, there was a shortfall of $6 billion in salary payments, which seems to represent mostly back payment for the fiscal year. Payment in March, would cut the under spending showing at the end of February to a $9 billion. The under spending includes interest cost being lower than planned that accounts for $5 billion of the under spent amounts.
In order to reduce the surplus sharply the revised estimates increased spending at $564 billion for the fiscal year, $42 billion more than the original forecast and would require spending of nearly $80 billion in March, if that were to be achieved, even with the back pay for civil servants being done in March that would be a big challenge with underspending to February with just 1 month that was left in the fiscal year, unless they were to clear up arrears of debt they have in the system.
Figures released by the Ministry of Finance, show that the operations to February, resulted in an overall surplus of almost $3 billion well above the projection of a deficit of $23 billion. The vast improvement arose from an $11 billion increase in revenues over budget, to reach $476 billion and less spending of $15 billion, with the latter benefiting from the late payment of increased salaries for the civil service. Revenues would have been far better but for tax refunds on interest that saw a reduction in inflows of more than $5 billion.
The original projection was for revenues for the fiscal year to be $535 billion and expenditure of $537 billion with spending of $37 billion and revenues of $70 billion in March and that would have put the fiscal numbers into a balanced position, with the planned for a fiscal deficit in February.
