More $$ for Prime Minister's office, Parliament, President

THE Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), Parliament and the Office of the President (OTP) all received increased allocations for fiscal 2025 in the 2024/2025 budget.

According to the Draft Estimates for Recurrent Expenditure for Financial Year 2025, the OPM's allocation increased from $568,489,400 in fiscal 2024 to $ 778,796,200 210 in fiscal 2025.

This represented an increase of $210,306, 800.

The largest allocations for expenditure for the OPM were in the areas of repairs and maintenance of buildings and the operations of cabinet-appointed bodies.

The former increased from $361,500 to $50,000,000.

The latter increased from $32,000,000 to $35,000,000.

With respect to the projected increased expenditure for cabinet-appointed bodies, the majority of the $35,000,000 figure ($28,000,000) was allocated for the National Security Council (NSC), which is chaired by the Prime Minister.

Other members of the NSC include the Attorney General, National Security Minister and the heads of all the protective services.

The allocation for security services at the OPM was decreased slightly from $1,000,000 to $1,100,000.

There was also a decrease in the allocation for official overseas travel from $2,900,000 to $1,000,000.

The allocation for the hosting of conferences was increased from $650,000 to $20,000,000.

The Parliament's allocation was increased from $137,873,038 to $140,107,640.

The draft estimates showed the Opposition Leader's office and the offices of all 41 members of the House of Representatives were the main beneficiaries of this increase.

The former saw its allocation increase from $3,400,000 to $3,500,000. The latter's allocation increased from $36,500,000 to 37,000,000.

The current parliamentary session, which began on September 9, is expected to be the last one before the next general election, which is constitutionally due by next August. Under the law, next November is the latest period for the election to be held.

Compared to the OPM and Parliament, the OTP's allocation increased slightly from $19,535,400 to $20,408,900.

This increase was to cater to projected expenditure with respect to official overseas travel, hosting of conferences, and repairs and maintenance of buildings.

Those allocations increased from $300,000, $2,120,000 and $950,000 to $400,000, $2,500,000 and $1,400,000, respectively.