$2 billion THA Budget — June 21

Following what is merely the presentation of the budget statement, the debate on the actual budget proposals will be held three days later, on June 24, at the regular monthly sitting of the House.

This is to facilitate approval by the House of Assembly’s proposed 2006 fiscal package to meet the June 30 deadline for its submission to Parliament, as spelt out in the THA Act No 40 of 1996. In keeping with convention, new THA Minority Leader, Democratic Action Congress (DAC) Assemblyman Ashworth Jack is expected to lead off the debate with his response to London’s budget presentation.

As part of the preparation of the budget package, the Finance Secretary has had consultations with various non-governmental and community-based organisations, as well as representatives of the business sector. One such session, involving technocrats and other senior public servants, at which "budget" recommendations were put forward by the various competing sectors, was recently held at the Mt Irvine Hotel. THA sources say one could expect very little surprises in terms of the areas of priority to be catered for in the 2005/2006 budget proposals.