House of Representatives passes Budget 2024 without participation from Opposition
On Tuesday evening, the House of Representatives passed the 2024 national Budget (Appropriation Bill 2023) worth $1.9 billion.
However, the Opposition was not present during the proceedings, which seemed like a boycott. The members on the government bench presented their arguments, and the Budget was passed unanimously.
During the presentation, each member criticized the Opposition’s decision to abstain from the debate on the grounds that they wanted to begin the discussion on Thursday.
However, the government made a compromise by shifting the original debate period from Monday to Tuesday. Still, the Opposition was adamant about their preferred time.
The Budget allocation was distributed among various ministries, with the Ministry of Education, Creative Industries, and Innovations receiving the highest share, amounting to $198.6 million for recurrent expenditure.
The Prime Minister’s Ministry and the Ministry of Finance and Public Private Partnerships received $177.7 million, whereas the Ministry of Health, Wellness, Social Transformation, and the Environment got $160.5 million.
The Senate is expected to convene on Friday, December 22nd, to commence the debate on the Bill.
This story was first published by Antigua News on December 20, 2023: antigua.news/2023/12/20/house-of-representatives-passes-budget-2024-without-participation-from-opposition. © 2023 Antigua News. Republication without permission is not allowed.
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