Finance Minister taking back disapproved budget allocations to House

Last Updated on Wednesday, 18 June 2014, 16:12 by GxMedia

Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh is taking steps to restore monies that were not approved by the opposition-controlled National Assembly, Cabinet Secretary Dr. Roger Luncheon announced on Wednesday.

Luncheon told a news conference that the Finance Minister would be relying on rulings by the High Court on budget cuts. “The minister relied on constitutional grounds and rulings of the constitutional court to initiate his exercise of restoration of appropriations in the 2014 fiscal year,” he said.

He explained that Singh would be taking Financial Papers to the House on Thursday June 19  for those areas that have not been approved by the Committee of Appropriations 

They include monies to fund the operations of the Office of the President, the University of Guyana Student Loan Facility, the Cheddi Jagan International Airport expansion project and the Specialty Hospital.

The combined opposition has already publicly committed to voting in favour of cash for the Student Loan Facility once it comes back to the House as a separate Financial Paper and not lumped together with contentious allocations as had been the case in the National Budget.

The Cabinet Secretary said Financial Papers would be taken to the House as the year progresses to seek the approval of the Alliance For Change (AFC) and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU).