Budget Day is expected to be on October 5. Sources disclosed the date yesterday and Finance Minister Colm Imbert is expected to officially announce it today following the first full working session of the People’s National Movement Cabinet.
Imbert told reporters after he was sworn in as minister on Friday that the budget date was tentatively set for September 28 but sources said it would be read one week later on October 5. The Government has until the end of October to pass the Appropriation Bill 2016. The new session of Parliament is also to convene two days later than the originally intended September 21.
The Government will have a tight schedule to complete all the stages of debate on the fiscal package, including a one-week debate in Parliament where the opposition members intend to respond to the proposed fiscal measures. All 41 MPs are expected to contribute to the debate in the House of Representatives and debates are expected to run late into the night.
Imbert said last week the Government was committed to completing all the stages of the budget debate by the end of October. The Government was elected on September 7 and ministers have only this week begun working from their respective offices.
The financial year ends on September 30 but Imbert said there was provision in the law for ten per cent of the previous year’s budget to be spent during the month of October if a new budget was not passed in time. He said the Government would have access to an estimated $6 billion during that period.