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Finance Minister’s Budget Presentation
Mr Speaker, I turn now to the Minister’s speech when he presented the
Estimates of Revenues and Expenditure, the budget for FY2015/16.
At the beginning of the Minister’s speech, he lauded the enhanced fiscal rules
and with added emphasis was quick to point out that “…the enhanced fiscal
rules are expected to outlast this, and succeeding administrations.” While it is
true that the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure were tabled at the same
time, let us not forget that in February 2010, five year ago, under the Jamaica
Labour Party government, the House of Representatives passed amendments
to the Financial Administration and Audit Act and the Public Bodies
Management and Accountability Act, as part of the JLP Government’s fiscal
responsibility framework to improve the management of public finances.
The promulgation of fiscal rules legislation passed recently were explicitly
stated parts of the agenda of the fiscal responsibility framework instituted by
the JLP government.
The Bill passed in this House in February 2010 requires that the Minister lay
before the House and the Senate, for approval before the end of each financial
year, estimates of revenues and expenditure in respect of all public bodies.
The Financial Administration and Audit Act’s amendment of February 2010
imposes a duty on the Minister of Finance to table in Parliament a Fiscal Policy
Paper containing, among other things, a macroeconomic framework providing
an overview of the state of the economy.
The Bill of February 2010 imposes
on the Auditor General a duty to review the fiscal policy paper and report to
Parliament thereon.