Money plan

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By HELEN TARAWA and LUKE KAMA
TREASURER Charles Abel is expected to table a national budget of around K14 billion today, primarily focused on service improvement programmes in districts and provinces.
According to a Government source familiar with the preparations of the national financial plan, around 60 per cent of the budget will be on the district and provincial service improvement programmes.
Cabinet recently finalised the budget submissions from the departments of National Planning and Monitoring, Finance and Treasury.
The current 2018 budget is around the same figure too.
Parliament Clerk Vela Konivaro told The National yesterday said the 2019 budget would be tabled when the House resumed at 2pm today.
“Tomorrow (today) is budget lockup,” he said.
“This is when the Treasury Department and the relevant heads of government departments explain the budget to the media and those in attendance.
“At 2pm, Parliament will sit. That’s when the budget bills will be introduced.”
They include the three appropriation bills covering the executive, judiciary and legislative arms of the Government.
“Depending on whatever else is ready, such as the other supporting bills that deal with revenue raising and expenditure, we might have about seven accompanying bills,” he said.
“Once the bills are introduced, Deputy Prime Minister and Treasury minister Charles Abel will make a budget speech.”
Konivaro said Shadow Minister Ian Ling-Stuckey would later move for the debate to be adjourned so that the Opposition could prepare its response.
“The plan is that budget reply will be given after the Apec Leaders’ Summit – which is Tuesday, Nov 20.”
Meanwhile, East Sepik Governor Allan Bird said they had only received 30 per cent of the total functional grants allocated to them in the 2018 budget. He said government accounts would also close next month.
Bird said some governors had informed him that they had received less than 20 per cent of the grants.
He said all provinces should be treated equally.
“Not because we are opposition or government, but because we are trying to serve the same client – the people,” he said.
“We are trying to serve them. It is not about who is holding power, or the size of the budget. It’s about the impact our people feel in what we do here in the Parliament.”
Bird said the non-release of functional grants was becoming a serious issue which needed to be addressed honestly and truthfully.
“I talk about functional grants since my election,” he said.
“When I add the cuts on all my functional grants since 2016, it’s close to K70 million.”