Parliament Building
By Alfred Pagepitu
Parliament has deferred consideration of the 2025 and 2026 Supplementary Appropriation Bills after the required reports were not tabled in the House on Thursday.
Finance and Treasury Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo had moved both Bills for their second reading before Speaker of the National Parliament John Patteson Oti informed the House that Parliament could not proceed until the reports were formally tabled.
The 2025 Supplementary Appropriation Bill 2026 seeks to regularise 109.7 million dollars in expenditure incurred during the 2025 financial year.
Mr Lilo said the expenditure included 2.5 million dollars incurred under contingency warrants and 107.3 million dollars under advance warrants.
Explaining the purpose of the legislation, Mr Lilo said:
“This bill has been prepared in accordance with Section 102 (1) of the Constitution and Section 51 of the Public Financial Management Act of 2013.”
He said supplementary appropriation allows the Government to meet expenditures that exceed approved allocations or were not previously funded.
“The Minister of Finance can seek supplementary appropriation from Parliament, in addition to the Annual Appropriation Act, for expenditures exceeding the allocated sums.”
Mr Lilo said the legislation also provides for contingency warrants where there is an unforeseen need or where delays could be detrimental to the public interest.
“The Minister of Finance can issue a contingency warrant for an unforeseen need or for a purpose for which no sum has been appropriated.”
He also said the legislation allows the Government to utilise donor funding secured after the annual budget process.
Giving an overview of the country’s economic performance in 2025, Mr Lilo said the domestic economy grew by an estimated 3.7 percent, up from 2.7 percent in 2024.
“Our domestic economy will grow by about 3.7 percent in 2025.”
He attributed the improved performance primarily to strong growth in the industry sector, which expanded by 6.1 percent.
Mining and quarrying activity increased by 48.5 percent, driven by higher mineral production and exports.
Mr Lilo said mining remained a key contributor to economic growth.
“The mining sector remained a key driver of our economic growth in 2025.”
He said mining exports were estimated at around 3.2 billion dollars, with Gold Ridge mining contributing significantly to the sector’s performance.
However, the Minister said the logging industry weakened substantially in 2025.
“The logging industry weakened substantially in 2025, with a significant decline in revenue, exports and harvesting activity.”
He said this highlighted the need for greater economic diversification.
“This underscores the urgent need for economic diversification to reduce reliance on this unsustainable sector.”
The 2025 fiscal year recorded a deficit of about 768 million dollars, with Government expenditure reaching around 5.1 billion dollars, compared with total revenue receipts of about 4.4 billion dollars.
Mr Lilo said external budget financing of approximately 967 million dollars resulted in an overall surplus of around 199 million dollars.
He said Government revenue collection performed strongly during the year, with total Solomon Islands Government revenue reaching approximately 4.1 billion dollars.
This exceeded the revised budget by around 289 million dollars, or 7.5 percent.
Mr Lilo said the 109.7 million dollars in supplementary expenditure was distributed across several sectors.
Around 25.6 million dollars was spent in the social sector, supporting provincial and church health authorities, rural water, sanitation and hygiene projects, mass immunisation and provincial infrastructure projects.
The productive sector received approximately 18.8 million dollars, supporting agricultural investments, market and nutrition projects, cybersecurity, provincial airport upgrades and the Bina Harbour tuna processing plant project.
A further 21.7 million dollars was allocated to the resource sector as budget support for implementation of the Tina River Hydropower Development Project.
The fundamental sector received approximately 41.2 million dollars to support capacity building for audit and statistics, the hosting of the 54th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting and child protection programmes.
Mr Lilo said 2.5 million dollars under contingency warrants was approved for the National Parliament to upgrade critical computer hardware and software.
Turning to the 2026 economic outlook, Mr Lilo said the International Monetary Fund projected global economic growth of 3 percent in 2026, compared with 3.4 percent in 2025.
He said global inflation was expected to increase from 4.1 percent in 2025 to 4.7 percent in 2026, before easing in 2027.
Mr Lilo identified geopolitical tensions, including the conflict in the Middle East, as major risks to the global economy.
“The conflict in the Middle East has disrupted oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz.”
He said oil prices remained about 25 percent above conflict levels, warning that further escalation could increase commodity prices and worsen inflation.
“A renewed escalation in the Middle East conflict could push commodity prices higher and worsen inflation.”
The Minister also warned that small island developing states could face slower growth because of higher energy costs, weaker tourism and reduced remittance income.
“Risks remain tilted to the downside.”
Mr Lilo commended the Public Accounts Committee for its scrutiny of the 2026 Supplementary Appropriation Bill, and thanked the committee secretariat, government officials and ministries that participated in the hearings.
He then commended the 2025 Supplementary Appropriation Bill 2026 to Parliament for consideration and debate.
However, following the Minister’s presentation, Speaker John Patteson Oti informed the House that the required reports had not yet been tabled.
“I have been informed that the report on the Supplementary Appropriations Bill is yet to be tabled.”
The Speaker said Parliament could not proceed with consideration of the Bills until the reports were formally placed before the House.
“Therefore, Parliament cannot proceed with or to consider the reports as tabled until the reports are placed on the table as soon as they are ready.”
Parliament subsequently adjourned and is expected to resume at 9.30am on Friday, 14 August 2026.
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