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Get the Facts – The National Budget

March 28, 2019
Get the Facts – The National Budget

The Full Story

The National Budget is a public record of the amount of money that the Government intends to raise – income, and spend – expenditure, to provide services such as healthcare, welfare, and security to its citizens. It functions as the country’s annual financial statement. It is broken down by Ministry and details the financial proposal for one fiscal year – April 1 until March 31 of the following year.

The Government’s plans for social and economic development are outlined in the budget.

• Social – explains how the Government will assist the nation’s most vulnerable groups.
• Economic – details the steps that the Government will take to grow the country’s economy.

The two main components of the budget are Estimates of Expenditure and Estimates of Revenue.

• Estimates of Expenditure – are projections of the amount of money that the Government intends to spend throughout the course of the financial year.
• Estimates of Revenue – are predictions about the amount of money that will be raised.

Funding the Budget

The money to provide the services that the Government offers to the public comes from consumers and wage earners. Government revenue is sourced from taxes on:
• Consumer goods
• Property
• Personal income
• Utilities, such as electricity and water

Loans are also a funding source. Some providers are:

• International lending agencies, such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
• Local companies. These may issue bonds (loans that are to be repaid on a specified date)

Other sources of Government income include:

• Grants from charitable organisations, such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
• Funds raised through Government-owned profit-making enterprises, such as corporations; and interest collected on local and international bank accounts

For further details, visit or contact the:
Public Expenditure Division
Ministry of Finance and the Public Service
30 National Heroes Circle
Kingston 4
Phone: 876-932-4245, 876-922-8600
Fax: 876-922-7097
E-mail: mofps.pr@mof.gov.jm
Website: https://www.mof.gov.jm

Last Updated: March 28, 2019

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