Budgetary Provisions for 2021 Passed in National Assembly

Budgetary Provisions for 2021 Passed in National Assembly

The 2021 Budget of the Federal Government of St. Kitts and Nevis has been given clearance in the National Assembly. On Monday 21st December 2020 parliamentarians on the government side of the aisle echoed their ayes in favour of the more than $867 Million Appropriation Bill that was introduced on 15th December 2020 by Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Hon. Dr. Timothy Harris.

The Assembly sitting was initiated on the 15th at the Marriott Resort in a specially staged chamber which afforded adequate social and physical distancing for a larger than usual number of invited guests. For the ensuing active days, the Parliamentary Chambers at Government Headquarters was the venue as member after member (straddling both sides of the House) weighed in on the debate expressing their views regarding the state of the nation from their various perspectives, In particular Ministers took the opportunity to speak to matters pertaining to past and ongoing performance of their respective ministries and to rationalize (through their detailed plans) the budgetary estimates covered by the Bill.

In wrapping up the debate, the Prime Minister took the opportunity to robustly counter the challenges and criticisms of the opposition generally. He also provided requisite responses in relation to any other residual arguments not earlier afforded opportunity for rebuttal from other speakers on the government benches; in light of the staggered sequencing of presentations and the peculiar format of the debate.

The 2021 Budget was constructed around a combination of programs and measures of the government which were reflected in total recurrent, capital and net lending charges against the Consolidated Fund amounting to $770,136,053 along with the figure representing “the total provided by law” of $97,783,789.

According to Prime Minister Harris, “It has been a long debate, but an informative one; and I want to thank all on both sides of the House for their views on this critical National Budget. I was particularly delighted by the contributions of the members on the Government side. The presenters gave clear positive support to this Budget and the last one in particular the Hon Attorney General continued that commendation.

Indeed the Budget is teamwork in action. Indeed the Budget represents the collective views of my Cabinet Members as the technicians from each Ministry and Department came forward alerting us and advising us of their priorities for the New Year, subjecting themselves to scrutiny and an ultimate determination of and by the Cabinet. I hope that the country at large (from the explanations given by the various Ministers on the programs under their line Ministries) get a better perspective of where we are as a country and where we are going in 2021.”

He went on to assert that the government is focused on delivering a better quality of life for all of the people of St. Kitts and Nevis. This, he said, was reflective of the presentation of a near $1 Billion Budget at such a time as this.