Parliament passed Samoa’s first-ever $1.08 billion Budget for the fiscal year 2023/2024, after three weeks of deliberations without any changes.
The new financial year 2023/2024 budget amounts to $895.5 million tala, with a forecast record of a Cash Deficit of $ 185.7 million equivalent to a Net Lending requirement of $ 88.1 million under the GFS or 3.3% of GDP.
The expenditure outlined in her budget address is 1.08 billion tala with a deficit of close to $200,000 million.
The Main Estimates laid is that the total Receipts for the Government are expected to increase by 12% in the new fiscal year 2023/2024 which will be driven up primarily by Ordinary Receipts, which include both taxation and Non-Tax Revenues are projected to increase by 12% overall as a result of an anticipated increase in tax collections by 13% whilst Non-Tax Revenues will decline by 1%.
Minister of Finance, Mulipola Anarosa Ale-Molioo said the projected increase in Taxes is attributed solely to the anticipation of increased economic activity driven by Government spending and a recovering global economy but in no way does it indicate any increased tax rates.
The aggregated total expenditures for the new fiscal year of $ 1.08 billion inclusive of development programmes sourced by our development partners will increase by 11% over the current year’s estimates.
The increase in expenditures for the new fiscal year is a testament to the Government’s commitment to raising its spending in order to drive recovery and restore economic growth.
The Minister said the proposed is a commitment by the Government to implement the Pathway for the Development of Samoa through partnerships with communities and the private sector.
“It continues to emphasize the prioritization of the socio-economic welfare of the nation, particularly following three years of uncertainty under the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The current fiscal year includes policies that were bold in the face of global economic turmoil but as we have seen, it has paid off with higher than anticipated growth for the current and the new financial year,” said the Minister.
