PM Speaks in Budget Debate Tuesday

The Prime Minister, the Hon. Bruce Golding, is scheduled to make his contribution to the 2010/11 Budget Debate at Gordon House on Tuesday (April 17), starting shortly after 2:00 p.m.
Mr. Golding is expected to address a number of national and international issues, including those raised by the Leader of the Opposition, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller, in her Budget Contribution on Thursday (April 15).
Among the issues Mr. Golding is likely to address are: the IMF standby agreement; national growth and development; the Jamaica Debt Exchange (JDX); national security and justice; and the social safety net to protect persons living below the poverty line.
Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, tabled Estimates of Expenditure (Budget) totalling approximately $500 billion in the House of Representatives on Thursday (March 25). The Estimates fulfilled the promise he made, while tabling the Second Supplementary Estimates a week earlier, that the new budget would be some $100 billion less than last year’s in order to reduce the deficit.
Mr. Shaw opened the Budget Debate on April 8 and has since been followed by Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, Opposition spokespersons Dr. Omar Davies and Phillip Paulwell, as well as Mrs. Simpson Miller. The Debate ends on Wednesday (April 21).