A BUDGET line item that former Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis called “the Prime Minister’s slush fund” received a 2023/2024 Budget increase of $6.9m compared to the year before.

The allocation for the line item, the Budget Reserve Appropriations, has increased significantly since the Progressive Liberal Party won the 2021 election.

For the 2021/2022 Budget, $3m was allocated for reserve appropriations. The approved estimates for that Budget jumped to $49.3m in 2022/2023. The estimate for 2023/2024 is $56m. The preliminary forecast estimate for the 2024/2025 budget is $63.1m.

As the Budget exercise wrapped up in the House of Assembly yesterday, Dr Minnis noted that a line item addressing constituency allowances did not account for the expected increase in allowances from $100k to $150k.

“The extra funds,” he asked, “is that included in the Prime Minister’s slush fund, the Budget reserve appropriation fund?”

Although Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper said the budget is not a slush fund, members of the Davis administration did not seek to have Dr Minnis withdraw his remark or have it stricken from the record.

Responding to a comment from a seated MP, Dr Minnis said: “What do you think Budget reserve is? That’s a Prime Minister’s spending fund, man.”