Budget unrealistic, fire the Government says Opposition Leader

The Government cannot be trusted to do what it says when it comes to the Budget and members of the Parliament on the Government’s side believe they alone have all the answers to fix issues affecting the country.

The Budget numbers are also unrealistic and for this, the people should fire the Government.

Those are some of the views expressed by Leader of the Opposition, and President of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Dr. Godwin Friday who said on Tuesday during his response to the 2025 Budget that he was trying to “unpack” what he heard in the Budget address which was delivered by Minister of Finance Camillo Gonsalves, last Monday, January 13, 2025.

“I’ve been in this House for a long time, and I’ve seen budgets come from the other side, various different qualities and with different focus.

“But what I have come to understand, and to, I wouldn’t say appreciate, but really to expect, is that when it’s in the Estimates, as we pointed out last week, or in the Budget presentation itself, is that we can’t take the Minister at his word.”

The Opposition Leader stressed that he has seen over and over again, “the numbers, and the fiction that is presented in the Estimates, and the promises that are made in the Budgets, that we cannot trust the government to mean what they say”.

“We can’t trust them to deliver on their promises,” Friday declared, while adding that the finance minister took a long time during his presentation speaking about things the government did in an effort to give the impression that they are serious about what they are saying, and that they intend to do what they say in the Budget.

Moving to the figures, the Opposition Leader said that the overall budget is approximately $1.85 billion and the Budget is a deficit Budget.

“The current deficit, as he (finance minister) presented it, is $5.6 million, so we can’t meet our ordinary expenses in running the government.

“Amortization, that is paying back the loans we have borrowed, is $215.4 million, and the sinking fund, which is what we set aside to pay off bonds and so forth, $22 million…at least on paper.

“So, the total, the overall deficit is $639.9 million,” Friday pointed out. He added that year after year, the Opposition looks at how the figures are presented, to see if they are credible and whether the Budget is based on a solid foundation.

“…one of the things that we have pointed out over the years is that there is a big hole in the Budget, which is captured in the capital receipts item called other receipts.

“The Budget, Madam Speaker, essentially is constructed in a summary. There is the revenue that the government intends to collect over the course of the year, and the expenditures that they intend to make.” the Opposition Leader stated.

“…you have the current revenue, which we spoke about and said that they’re collecting less than they’re actually spending on current expenditures, and then you have capital revenue and other receipts which falls within the category of capital revenue, which means that, as it’s presented in the estimates, that those monies are supposed to go towards capital projects,” he added.

“So, Madam Speaker, what we have here is a situation where you have, under other receipts, $280.5 million; last year was $215 million. I believe in 2023 it was $198 million, possibly something like that, or maybe, I don’t know, but anyway, the number keeps going up.”

Just like the Budget gets larger, the hole that we call capital receipts also gets larger.

“So, the problem is compounded. The other receipts, which is a category of funding that the government puts in the estimates, but which they never receive very much of it, accounts for now in this year, 15% of the total expenditure of the government, 15% and they don’t know where the money is going to come from,” Dr. Friday said.

He said that if you put it as a percentage of capital expenditure, which is where it’s intended to be spent, it accounts for 40% of capital expenditure.

“They never collect much of this money, as I said, so as represented, it’s a gaping hole within the Budget,” Dr. Friday said while noting that to him, it is clear that the government sets unrealistic goals.

“And the question we ask ourselves here, year after year, why do you put it in the Budget? I mean, can you imagine a business running its affairs this way, or, you know, a CEO presenting to his board or to the shareholders…the financial statements where they said, well, we making a profit of $100 million, it is composed this way, we have $50 million, we’re not quite sure where we’re going to make that money, but we are projecting that profit.

“They will fire you…we’ve been urging the people of this country to fire the government for this for a long, long time, and we are hoping, Madam Speaker, that finally, this year, they’re going to do it,” Dr. Friday said.

“It is evident in the most obvious things, like the infrastructure, never mind the bragging…they on the other side, after so many years in office, they have allowed themselves to become trapped, if you like, in a in a bubble of their own making,” Dr. Friday commented.