Beryl Expenditure Inflates 2024-25 Budget by Almost $40bn

The government is projecting to spend an additional $40 billion for the 2024-2025 financial year, primarily on expenditures associated with Hurricane Beryl.

That’s according, to finance minister Dr. Nigel Clarke, who tabled the first supplementary estimates in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

Noting the significant impact recent economic shocks have had on the nation’s growth, Dr. Clarke sought to assure the country that key projects such as the SPARK programme remain on track despite the hit.

Ricardo Brooks tells us more.

Due to a fall in tourism revenues and the impact of Hurricane Beryl, finance minister, Dr. Nigel Clarke, says the country’s gross domestic product, GDP, is projected to decline by more than two per cent for the third quarter of 2024.

Dr. Clarke says the country has been able to weather the shock while maintaining its debt reduction projections. He says this has been achieved through the administration’s prudent fiscal management.

However, Dr. Clarke says some revisions in government expenditure are necessary to accommodate post-Beryl recovery.

This will see the government spending just over $40 billion more than the previously estimated $1.341 trillion for the financial year. That moves the budget to just short of $1.4 trillion.

Dr. Clarke says this will be covered primarily by the over-performance of the previously announced securitization of revenues from the Norman Manley International Airport.

However, an under expenditure of nearly $12.1 billion in the capital expenditure will also offset the additional recurrent expenses.

Dr. Clarke sought to assure the country that key programmes such as SPARK and hurricane relief efforts would not be impacted.