He told reporters yesterday that of the $120 million in projected resources, $53.3 million will be allotted for the executive branch and the remainder is for the other branches and components of the government.
Since Tuesday, he said, the administration under the leadership of acting Gov. Eloy S. Inos and the Office of Management and Budget have been meeting with the heads of all the departments to discuss their individual budget proposals.
Meetings with the Departments of Public Health, Public Safety and Corrections were scheduled on the first day.
Yesterday, Inos sat down with the heads of Finance, Community and Cultural Affairs and Public Works.
Demapan said these ongoing budget meetings aim to assist the departments and agencies in ensuring that their total budget proposals are within the $53 million.
During the meetings, the administration made it clear that the resources are down to $120 million, so everybody should submit budget proposals that won’t exceed that, Demapan said.
“It is extremely difficult. Last year, it was already difficult to meet the $132 million budget so imagine how it is more difficult this time that we have $120 million,” he said.
Demapan assured that critical services will be prioritized. These include education, health and public safety.
“We will fund them to the fullest extent possible, then we will move down to the other departments,” he said.
