Wednesday is Budget
The new People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government will present its first Budget on Wednesday, according to the Order Paper for the second sitting of the 12th Parliament.
The presentation of the Budget for the remainder of the 2020 fiscal year will commence at 10:00h at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Lilliendaal, East Coast Demerara.
“BE IT RESOLVED: That Standing Orders Nos. 10(2) and 38(9)(a) be suspended to enable the Minister with responsibility for Finance to complete uninterrupted the reading of the Budget Speech for 2020 at the Sitting of the National Assembly on Wednesday, 9th September 2020,” the Order Paper states.
The 12th Parliament was convened on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, the House approved a total of $11.2 billion for 16 constitutional agencies for the remainder of the 2020 fiscal year.
Public Works Minister, Juan Anthony Edghill assumed responsibility for the Finance Minister’s portfolio and tabled the current and capital estimates for these bodies. No Finance Minister has been appointed as yet by the new Administration.
Among the agencies that had their 2020 budgets approved in its entirety for the period ending 31st December 2020, is Parliament Office, which got $1,799,248,000.
The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) received a whopping $4,943,052,000; while the Supreme Court of Judicature got $2,443,164,000.
Another $908,636,000 was approved for the Office of the Auditor General.
The Chamber of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) received $226,822,000, while the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) got $220,802,000 and the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) secured $206,460,000.
The National Assembly further approved a total of $150,636,000 for the Public and Police Service Commissions. The Teaching Service Commission received $117,075,000 for the remainder of the fiscal year.
Meanwhile, the Office of the Ombudsman got $70,001,000 and the Women and Gender Equality received $58,327,000.
An additional $46,095,000 was approved by the House for the Rights of the Child Commission along with $40,911,000 for the Public Service Appellate Tribunal.
The Human Rights Commission secured $25,958,000; while the Indigenous Peoples Commission got $24,392,000 and the Judicial Service Commission received $10,020,000.
The budgets for these constitutional agencies were approved in the absence of the APNU/AFC Opposition members. They had walked out of the National Assembly sitting following the opening remarks by newly-elected Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir.
