Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Hon. Dean Barrow told Amandala Monday that there will be no budget consultations and no symposium this year, as the consultancy of Dr. Carla Barnett, a former Financial Secretary, who had served as an advisor and consultant to the Ministry of Finance, has come to an end.
Barrow told our newspaper that calls have gone out to the various government ministries and departments to make their submissions for the new fiscal year, which starts on April 1.
The budget will be tabled in March, he told us.
For the first two years of its administration (2008 and 2009), the Barrow government has held months of consultations leading up to the presentation of the budget in the National Assembly.
Asked why the consultations will not take place this year, he told us that there is “nobody else we can pay.”
The consultancy, said Barrow, was IDB funded, and the program ended in November 2009.
Government doesn’t have the funds for the consultations, he told us.
“Does this mean that there will be no more budget consultations for the rest of this term of your administration?” we asked Barrow.
“It is a question of getting more funding,” he replied.
If those funds come on-stream, said Barrow, his administration could resume.
In a brief conversation with Amandala Tuesday, Dr. Carla Barnett said that the consultations were very helpful and enabled Belizeans to better understand the budget, and also improved its quality. By the time the budget was tabled, said Dr. Barnett, more people understood what it was all about.
Even though expectations were raised, she said, those who had contributed recommendations understood that not all their suggestions could be incorporated in the budget, and they were informed of why certain recommendations could not be included at the time.
According to Dr. Barnett, the first year of consultations were done under a United Nations Development Program (UNDP) consultancy project, while the second year’s work, including her specifically providing expert advice to the Ministry of Finance, was offered as part of an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) arrangement.
When the Barrow administration came to office in February 2008, it announced that the budget would be several months late, as the government embarked on a series of consultations, climaxing in a June symposium.
The budget was presented in July, and implemented in August. It was, however, made retroactive to April 1, 2008.
Last year, the budget was tabled in the House of Representatives in March, after consultations beginning December 2008 and climaxing with the budget symposium in February. Hundreds of Belizeans gave their input.
According to Prime Minister Barrow, social partners are still welcome to make their suggestions known by submitting them to the Ministry of Finance, even though they would be engaged through a formal process this year.
Barrow restated that 2009/2010 has been “a very difficult year where money is concerned.”
He said he believes that 2010/2011 will be the last year that the financial problems will be extreme, which he attributes to the global economic recession. He said he doesn’t expect 2011/2012 will be as bad.
An update on the performance of the 2009/2010 budget year will be presented at his next quarterly press conference, slated for February, said Barrow. By then, he told us, the figures should be clearer.