Government underspending...a waiting game

Premier Donaldson Romeo

Government is projected to underspend its Capital budget by more than 70% by the end of the financial year in March, according to the head of Government, Premier Donaldson Romeo.

The Honourable Romeo, who also has responsibility for the Ministry of Finance, stated, “Some EC$7, 831150.56 of the EC$33,952,200 or 23% of the 2018/2019 capital budget has been spent thus far. According to the projection received from the Ministries, a total of EC$1, 485,738.71 will be expended by the end of quarter four. At that point 27% of the 2018/2019 budget will be spent which equals

EC$9,316,827.00.

Offering an explaining for the underutilized funds, he explained, “We underspend mainly due to the late arrival of the EU funding which was programmed into the budget at the beginning of the financial year, but was not received until November, therefore impacting the ability to implement and expend the funds.”

However, the Premier assures, “The funds do not have to be spent by March, and they roll over into the New Year. Secondly approximately 18 to 20 million would have been EU funds and of the rest of it nearly $2 mil to be spent to address school issues.”

The Capital Expenditure Programme saw an increased budget this financial year to EC$33.62 million (EC$7.14 million DFID Funded Projects, EC$24.58 million EU funded projects, EC$1.90 million other funding partners. Total budget for 2018/2019 was 164.8 million compared to 2017/2018 budget of 159.52 million.