Tax revenues jump by $2.16 billion

The coffers of the Government of Jamaica have got more revenues and grants than budgeted over the period April 2020 to January 2021.

The latest government revenue out-turn shows that revenues and grants are up by $2.9 billion to $446.27 billion. Data from the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service revealed that while collections are running ahead of projections, the $446.27 billion in receipts from revenues and grants for the period April 2020 to January 2021 were still below the comparable period in 2019-2020 when $519.31 billion in revenues and grants were collected.

The out-turn of $446.27 billion for the period under review was a decline of approximately 14.1 per cent relative to the $519.31 billion recorded for the corresponding period in 2019-2020. Tax revenues recorded the biggest jump of $2.16 billion more than budgeted to end the period at $391.21 billion.

Grants are also running ahead of projection by $1.34 billion to end the period at $5.51 billion. However, non-tax revenue was on the decline coming in at $49.53 billion, which was $602.8 million less than budgeted. Notably, no budgeted amount was booked for Bauxite Levy.

Capital revenue came in on budget

Capital revenue came in on budget, closing April 2020 to January 2021 with a provisional amount of $22.10 million. On the expenditure side, total government expenditure for the period April 2020 to January 2021 amounted to $525.41 billion, which is $2.19 billion less than the budgeted amount of $527.60 billion.

Recurrent expenditure amounted to $484.20 billion, which represents 92.16 per cent of overall expenditures. In disaggregating the recurrent expenditure, two categories were above the budgeted amount during the review period. They are Compensation of Employees and Wages & Salaries.

Compensation of employees amounted to $185.81 billion, which was over budget by $154.0 million or 0.1 per cent more while Wages & Salaries was up 0.3 per cent above the budgeted amount of $172.93 billion to end the period at $173.43 billion. The expenditure on ‘Programmes’ was $193.75 billion, which is 0.1 per cent less than the budgeted amount.

In addition ‘Employee Contribution’ was 2.7 per cent less than the budgeted amount of $12.72 billion to end the period at $12.37 billion.

Fiscal deficit slightly down

The fiscal deficit, referring to the shortfall in a government’s income compared with its spending, was $79.14 billion, relative to a projected deficit of $84.23 billion. Additionally, the primary surplus balance for the period amounted to $25.51 billion, relative to the budgeted primary surplus of $22.60 billion. The primary balance is the difference between a government’s revenue and its non-interest expenditure (what it is spending, not including debt payments).