MINISTER of Finance and the Public Service Dr Nigel Clarke will respond to fiscal and other issues raised by the Opposition when he closes the budget debate Tuesday afternoon at Gordon House.

At end of Dr Clarke’s presentation, which is scheduled to start at 2:00 pm, the House of Representatives is expected to approve the Government’s 2022/23 expenditure budget of $912 billion, which is highlighted by recurrent expenditure of $539.4 billion, or 59.2 per cent; public debt servicing of $307.5 billion, or 33.7 per cent; and capital expenditure of $65.1 billion, or 7.1 per cent.

Revenue is estimated at $749.8 billion for the year in non-borrowed resources that the Government receives during the financial year from various sources, including current taxation, duties, fees, penalties, and grants, as well as some loan repayments to the Government expected during the period.

At the end of December, Jamaica’s public debt stood at $2.2 trillion, including $47 billion owed to self-financed public bodies. The debt to-GDP ratio is projected to be 96.3 per cent at the end of fiscal year 2021/22 (March 31), down from approximately 110 per cent at the end of March 2021.

According to information provided by the finance ministry, the debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to continue on a downward path toward the target of 60 per cent or less by financial year 2027/28. The public debt service of $307.5 billion consists of amortisation (principal) payments of $169.1 billion and interest costs of $138.4 billion.

The ministry says that approximately 82.2 per cent of the financing is projected to come from revenue and grants; 13.6 per cent from loans; 3.6 per cent from loan repayments to the Government, including the bauxite levy; and 0.6 per cent from prior cash balances in the Consolidated Fund. General consumption tax (GCT), income tax and special consumption tax (SCT) together account for 77.3 per cent of the total projected intake from tax revenue in 2022/23.

GCT leads the tax intake with a massive $237.6 billion projection for the incoming financial year, followed by income tax at $189.6 billion and SCT at $92 billion. Other tax revenue measures include Customs, $59.3 billion; education, 36.7 billion; travel tax, $15.8 billion; environmental levy at $5.5 billion; and motor vehicle tax at $5.1 billion.

In his response, Opposition spokesman on finance Julian Robinson had noted that inflation on fuel and food items is taking a toll on vulnerable Jamaicans. He called on the Government to revisit the budget. Robinson also insisted that the minimum wage should see a further increase to adequately sustain lives.

Opposition Leader Mark Golding, during his contribution to debate, accused the Government of failing to protect Jamaicans from what they are facing.

“This budget has no meaningful provisions to protect them from the onslaught. We demand that more be done to ease the burdens on the Jamaican people,” he said.

Golding had also suggested that Government use an additional $40 billion from its revenues to boost social benefits to citizens, and accused Clarke of being more concerned about “appeasing credit-rating agencies and the capital markets than providing relief for the suffering people of Jamaica”.