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The budgets for all constitutional agencies were approved Monday in the National Assembly after examination of the Estimates of Expenditure and queries by Opposition Members with responses provided by Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Gail Teixeira during the 59th Sitting of the Twelfth Parliament.
The agencies comprise the Parliament Office, Audit Office of Guyana, Public and Police Service Commissions, Teaching Service Commission, the Guyana Elections Commission, the Supreme Court of Judicature, Public Prosecutions, the Office of the Ombudsman, the Public Service Appellate Tribunal, the Ethnic Relations Commission, the Judicial Service Commission, the Rights Commissions of Guyana and the Public Procurement Commission.
The process for approval of the Estimates of Expenditure of these Agencies continued following the December 29, 2021 Parliamentary approval of the Fiscal Management and Accountability Amendment (FMAA) Act which was piloted by Minister Dr. Ashni Singh during the 34th Sitting of the Twelfth Parliament.
The legislation was amended from what it was previously during the tenure of the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) administration, which the government claimed, “has since strengthened and streamlined the Budget process for these Constitutional Agencies while also preserving their independence.”
The ministry, in a release, said amendments made to the former legislation include those that were made to ensure better accountability and set out the practice and procedure to which these Constitutional Agencies must conform in terms of the management of their subventions for the efficient discharge of their functions.
Last week, both sides of the House participated in five days of debates on the 2023 Budget which was presented to the National Assembly on January 16 by the Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh.
This year’s Budget which is the largest in the nation’s history has a spending tag of $789.1 Billion. The budget also has the largest deficit ever said the accounting firm, Ram and McRae.
