{"id":259041,"date":"2025-11-23T11:47:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T15:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=259041"},"modified":"2025-11-23T14:00:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T18:00:11","slug":"video-pm-browne-defends-unbudgeted-spending-says-supplementary-filings-delayed-but-not-illegal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/video-pm-browne-defends-unbudgeted-spending-says-supplementary-filings-delayed-but-not-illegal\/","title":{"rendered":"VIDEO: PM Browne Defends Unbudgeted Spending, Says Supplementary Filings Delayed but Not Illegal"},"content":{"rendered":"
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PM Browne Defends Unbudgeted Spending, Says Supplementary Filings Delayed but Not Illegal<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Prime Minister Gaston Browne says delayed supplementary appropriations <\/a>will be brought to Parliament on December 4, describing the backlog as an administrative lapse but insisting the expenditures involved were not unlawful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Browne said the government routinely buys <\/a>vehicles, heavy equipment, garbage trucks, ambulances and other assets not listed in the approved annual budget<\/a>.<\/p>

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He explained that these purchases <\/a>are covered through supplementary appropriations signed by the finance minister, even if the paperwork is filed late<\/a>.<\/p>

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He stressed that the practice is longstanding and legal, saying the lack of timely filings \u201cdoesn\u2019t mean that they\u2019re illegal\u201d and that \u201cnobody did something illegal and bought extra vehicles.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Browne, the director of audit typically records such delays as \u201cunauthorized payments\u201d in the audited financial statements, but they become regularized once the appropriations are submitted.<\/p>

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Browne said the documents to clear the backlog\u2014potentially three to four years\u2014have already been prepared for submission. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He pointed to the previous United Progressive Party administration, saying it \u201cdid not file a single supplementary appropriation\u201d in its 10\u00bc years in office, leaving his administration to correct \u201chundreds of millions of dollars\u201d in outstanding filings after taking government in 2014.<\/p>

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He rejected suggestions raised in Parliament that the government improperly exceeded budgeted amounts for vehicle purchases, calling the criticism a conflation of issues and saying supplementary spending has occurred \u201cfrom time immemorial.\u201d<\/p>

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