Peter Phillips’ assertion that there will be a near $9 billion cut in the 2015/16 budget might have come as a shock to the country already reeling from the pains of severe economic adjustments but much of the work has already be done with a sharp $4.7 billion cut in interest payments to August.
The savings works out at more than $10 billion for the full year and might be even more with Treasury bill rate continuing to fall as such the Minister’s work seems a mere formality of recognizing that interest cost was over estimated in the first place and not for the first time.
Up to August, apart from the big drop in interest cost capital expenditure was underspent buy $4 billion with just spent out of the $16.3 billion budgeted for the 5 months period. The wages bill was underspent by $3.4 billion with just $$67.9 billion spent out of $71.3 planned. Other areas of recurrent expenditure saw arise of $1.4 billion above budget.
Collector of Taxes office, Constant Spring, Kingston.
Government borrowed $14 billion less in the local market than budgeted taking only $5.8 billion in new funds as opposed to almost $20 billion planned. But they borrowed $255 billion on the foreign side versus $59 billion planned but paid out $180 billion more than budgeted.
