Grenada’s Finance Minister, Hon. V. Nazim Burke, on Friday presented the much anticipated 2010 budget to House of Representatives at a packed Trade Center in St. George’s. His presentation took him in excess of three hours. This year’s Estimate of Revenue and Expenditure in 3.1 million dollars more than the 2009 budget ($679.0 million). Current Expenditure is estimated at $430.2 million, Capital (Development) Expenditure at $159.0 million and Principal Repayments at 89.7 million. The lion’s share of the budget is $146.4 million (21.6%) for public debt repayment. A total of $105.6 million (15.6%)will go towards the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development, $58.6 million (8.6%) to the Ministry of Finance, $55.7 million (8.2%)to the Ministry of Health and $49.3 million (7.3%) to Police. Of the $430.2 million in Capital Expenditure, $205.7 million (47.8%) will be spent on personal emoluments, $56.7 million (13.2%) on interest payments and $81.2 million (18.9%) on transfers to households, including pension and gratuities. Minister Burke explained that the $159.0 for Capital Expenditure (which represents 9.0% of GDP) will comprise of $108.0 million from local revenue and other domestic financing, $43.1 million from external grants and $7.9 million from external loans. The Finance Minister pointed out in his presentation that the budgetary allocation for education and Human Resource Development underscores government’s promise “… to spend at least 15% of the total budget on human resource development). Opposition Leader, Hon. Dr. Keith Mitchell, will on Monday (January 18, 2010) respond to the budget presented by Hon. Nazim Burke.