On Wednesday evening, the Prime Minister addressed the nation regarding the 2010 budget process.
- He painted the reality of our situation.
- The servicing of the debt is the anchor weighting on the budget and future prosperity. The projected debt serving expenditure is $309B. The proposed budget is $548B.
- The proposed budget expenditures cannot be pared further without harming our future or ripping the social safety net.
- The days where we could kick the can down the road by further borrowing is over.
- With reluctance, he announced the need for tax increase to close the budget gap. (Estimated gap $18B)
- The tax increase details will be shared on Thursday. He however spoke to the fairness of the distribution. (return here for details later. trying to package the information in a useful form).
- He rightly anticipated unrest, and shared that security is on alert to address this situation appropriately.
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- This captain of our state is keeping it real and have exercised a high level of leadership to steer us through these tough times. He is taking tough courageous steps in stewardship over the country’s credit card.
