Salaries, payments eat up large chunk

SALARIES and goods and services will eat up more than half the total appropriation of the budget for next year.
Otherwise known as recurrent expenditure, the Government plans to spend K4.1 billion in this area in 2010.
The total outlay of K4,095.9 million comprises K2,380.2 million for national departments, K925.2 million for provincial governments, K58 million for the Autonomous Bougainville Government, K269.4 million for commercial statutory authorities and K471.1 million for interest payments.
Treasurer Patrick Pruaitch said the allocation for national departments would be restrained at K2.4 billion.
He said the only increases allowed were for personnel emoluments that were unavoidable or mandatory as they relate to industrial award increases, additional unfunded allowances approved by the Salaries and Conditions Monitoring Committee, unfunded structures approved by the Department of Personnel Management or departmental heads under the devolved human resources powers and National Executive Council decisions.
The major funding allocations include : individual agencies (K170.8 million), education subsidies (K144 .3 million), superannuation obligations (K118 million), court orders (K50 million), LNG project support funding (K20 million), retrenchment (K20 million), pay increases under the public servants award (K15 million) and Hela and Jiwaka Transitional Authority (K2 million each).
Major increases to individual agencies are being provided to health (K52.4 million), hospital management services (K41.6 million), provincial governments (K21 million), police (K16.2 million), Customs office (K12.4 million, education (K12.2 million), immigration office (K5.8 million), foreign affairs (K5.6 million), Border Development Authority (K4 million), Department of Public Enterprise (K3 million), Office of Public Prosecutor (K1.4 million) and Office of Tourism, Arts and Culture (K1.5 million).