Supplementary budgets under review
Parliamentarians on Monday reviewed the fifth supplementary budget for fiscal year 2020 worth €254 million.
The major line items are as follows: €77 million on defence expenditures; €116 million on the general government contribution to the Social Insurance Fund; €12 million on pensions; €6 million on promotions of police officers, firemen and special constables; a €6 million credit line to be tapped, if needed, to deal with the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic; and €4 million on the assistance provided to Lebanon after the massive explosion at the port of Beirut in August.
The first and second supplementary budgets for 2020 were worth €369m and €220 million, respectively, with the cash allocated to dealing with the coronavirus situation.
The third supplementary budget came to €231 million, of which €151.5 million allocated to the coronavirus situation, and €79.6 million allocated to other expenditures.
The fourth supplementary budget for 2020 – relating to payment of contract soldiers in the National Guard – had not been passed by parliament.