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I will not spend much time on this section, as documentation has been in the public domain for an extended period. In terms of the total expenditure, the recurrent budget is $85 billion while the capital is $45 billion. Of the recurrent budget, debt servicing comprises 40 per cent at $34.4 billion which is mainly in the form of interest payments. Education gets 18 per cent and National Security and Justice 10 per cent. Approximately 8 per cent of the recurrent budget is allocated to Transport and Works. On the capital side, amortization, debt service accounts for 74 per cent or $11.5 billion; Finance and Planning 6 per cent and Education 3 per cent. If we look at the overall budget, the worrying signs are the level of debt servicing, which takes up more than half of the budget (53 per cent); as well as the high level which is allocated to wages and salaries, public utilities and rentals - some 60 per cent of the recurrent budget. Wages and salaries constitute the highest proportion of the non-debt expenditure. I must emphasize that, unless we can bring the allocations and percentage of the budget for debt servicing and wages and salaries down to more tolerable limits, the fiscal situation is not sustainable. This is the challenge which we face during this period. In terms of social and community services, these constitute 22 per cent of the budget. They include expenditure on education and culture, health and water supplies. We should note that primary education retains priority with 32 per cent of the education budget and 64 per cent of the capital budget. There has been a significant increase in the amounts to assist needy students and the capital allocation to education has been increased. We have benefited from debt relief from the British Government and this is being targeted to education. In the health services, primary and secondary health care remain priority areas, and funding is in place for the continuation of the Health Sector Reform Programme. There is also significant allocation in water. In terms of agriculture, there have been increases for research and development. Through the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, there will be a continuation of assistance to the garment sector, although we recognize that the programme has not been taken up at the level that we expected. || Previous | Table of Contents | Next ||
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