The 2016 Milne Bay Provincial Budget Appropriation was passed yesterday by the Provincial Assembly.
The budget was endorsed by Governor Titus Philemon, and Chairman of Finance Policy, Planning and Public Service during a special sitting to present the 2016 Province Budget.
The outline of the 2016 Budget has two sides, the Revenue Projections and Expenditure Estimates. Milne Bay Province has two major revenue sources, grants from the National Government and internally raised revenues. The Budget is outlined in these terms.
Governor Philemon was pleased to announce that Milne Bay Provincial Budget for 2016 is
K193, 931, 300. This comprises of K153, 921, 300 grants from the National Government and
K22, 331, 200 unspent 2015 grants and K17, 678, 800 of internally raised revenue.
According to Governor Philemon, the 2016 Appropriation shows an increase of K1.8 million in comparison to the 2015 appropriation.
"This is an achievement made because of the good fiscal discipline we practiced, where we prioritised expenditures to deliver effective services to our rural population despite shortfall in our budget,” Governor Philemon said.
He commended provincial assembly members, public servants and development partners, highlighting Milne Bay Province as one of the top-five performing provinces in the country.
The theme for 2016 Provincial Budget is: “Supporting Economic Growth in Rural Milne Bay Through Fiscal Discipline.”
The 2016 Budget has seen an increase in staffing grant from K9.9 million in 2015 to K10.6 million in 2016, which is a great relief for the administration in enabling them to recruit key personnel to fill in the vacancies within the districts and LLG administrations.
Meanwhile, education, health, infrastructure development and Rural SME development remains top priorities in 2016 Provincial Budget.