By Precious D Freeman
President George Weah has submitted a recast budget as a proposed restatement of the Fiscal Year 2023 national budget in the amount of US$ 759.4 to the Legislature.
According to the President’s communication, the confluence of reduction in the volume of trade, expiration of surcharge on petroleum, reduction of tariff on excise on petroleum and a six-month-running slump in global market prices of export commodities in the mining sector has engendered revenue underperformance in both tax and non-tax categories since the beginning of the current fiscal year.
“This underperformance has posed a challenge for executing the budget in the first two-quarters of FY-2023 and has also prompted early reprioritization and program deferrals in some instances.
“It is against the foregoing that the realization of the aggregate amount of US$23.5 million or 3.5 percent of the total projected domestic revenue of US$672 million has been deemed a risk and untenable,” the communication stated.
Consequently, to ensure that year-end spending is in line with available resources, adjustments in spending entities’ program allocation balances have been made such that the risk is absorbed by all and sundry.
However, critical priority allocations for the ensuing elections and the national electricity grid have been ring-fenced.
The revised revenue envelope for the proposed restated budget is US$ 759.4, reflecting a net decrease of US$ 23.5 million or 3.0 percent below the originally approved budget of US$ 782.9 Million.
The total adjusted recurrent expenditure is estimated at US$612,558, or 80.7 percent of the total proposed expenditure. The revised expenditure estimate for public sector investment is US$146,857,790 or 19.3 percent of the total proposed expenditure.
Though the communication was received but there was an amendment done which was accepted by the movant that states that all copies should be distributed to all of the 73 members of the House before the legislative debates can begin.
It can be recalled that the over US$700 million draft budget was submitted by the executive which was later pass into law by the Legislature and was signed into handbill by the President.
