By LETRE SWEETING

Tribune Staff Reporter

lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

KWASI Thompson, former State Minister for Finance, said the Davis administration presented an incomplete budget that does not include all estimates as required by law.

He expressed discontent with the administration’s deficit figures, saying the budget doesn’t account for a $110m Bahamas Power & Light loan.

Some $110m was lent to BPL over the first nine months of the current fiscal year to pay off its fuel bill debt.

Mr Thompson noted the Davis administration is legally obligated to list how funds are appropriated.

“Can we,” he said, “even trust the government’s deficit figure? We remember the deficit debacle during the last budget. The Prime Minister stated that he expects to beat this year’s deficit by almost 50m. But does it really?”

“We fail to see where the Prime Minister included the $110m loan to BPL, as he is legally obligated to under the law.”

“We call on the government to indicate what appropriations were made by parliament for this $110m in lending to state-owned enterprises. If there are no appropriations for this lending, this is clearly and patently illegal.

“Alternatively, the government will have to use the budgetary mechanisms to transfer funds already appropriated by parliament into an appropriate line item to effect the loan. But the law is clear.

“In other words, the government will have to show this sum in its budgetary expenditure. And this fact means that this additional $110m expense will blow their budget deficit wide open.”

“The PLP,” he continued, “has also presented an incomplete budget. Their own law gives specifically what should be included in this budget book. The fourth schedule of the Public Financial Management Act, 2023 states as follows: ‘The annual budget shall have estimates of financing with financing information for the previous two years (both budget and actual) and projected financing for the current year and the next three years.’

“Clearly the government’s estimates only include the current year and the next two years. They are missing a year. To proceed means it is not in compliance with the law and the budget is incomplete.”