Teacher and nursing trainee allowances combined are expected to cost government a projected amount of ¢401.1 million in 2022.

Data from the 2022-2025 budget preparation guideline document pegs total allocation for both teacher and nursing trainee allowances for 2022 at ¢401.1 million.

Of this amount, nursing trainee allowances (¢231.2) for the period represent 57.6 per cent while teacher trainee allowances (¢169.9 million) represent 42.4 per cent of the total projected allocation of ¢401.1 million.

Government in 2022 has projected to spend a total of ¢128.3 billion with a corresponding revenue generation of ¢89.1 billion leaving a budget deficit of almost ¢40 billion.

This means that the budgetary allocation for both teacher and nursing trainee allowances will represent over 0.3 per cent of the projected expenditure in 2022.

Upon further analysis of the data contained in the budget guideline document, government for the second time in a row is projecting to spend more on interest payments than compensation for employees.

The projected amount for interest payments in 2022 is ¢37.1 billion which is three times the amount government intends to spend on capital expenditure. 

Also, the projected amount to be spent on interest payments and compensation alone will represent about 91% of what government seeks to raise as revenue in 2022.

The Ministry of Finance's projections simply means that in 2022, interest payments and compensations will slash away more than 53 per cent of what government plans to spend.