Espat and Fonseca defend budget
As I speak, the Members of the House of Representatives are still making their presentations in support of or against the budget. Earlier this afternoon, the members for the Albert and Belize Rural Central constituencies respectively had their turns at the microphone to counter the arguments put forth by the Leader of the Opposition.
Mark Espat, Area Rep, Albert Division
“They must have been disappointed that international investors purchased that Bear Stearns bond issue in a single day, not withstanding their goat mouth, reducing the Central Bank’s long term liabilities by seventy-two million and lowering the overall debt service payments of our government. And they must have been truly disappointed that even their masters, even their masters at the I.M.F. have recognized the P.U.P. government’s success at expanding the economy. Here is what the I.M.F. had to say just a couple of months ago. And just so they can’t dispute it, it is here in black and white, the report of the I.M.F., black and white. The I.M.F. said, quote, the government strategy succeeded in accelerating growth from four percent in ’99 to over eleven percent in 2000, mainly by facilitating private investment for export and import substitution and through government’s investment including in particular, an ambitious housing program. That is the I.M.F., not us; their IMF.”
“This P.U.P. government is credit worthy, we can borrow to build Belize. This P.U.P. government is not hard pay. We can grow the economy to repay. And this P.U.P. government is true to its manifesto. We have invested the money to better the lives and the quality of life of the Belizean people. Madam Speaker, I support this budget as I have supported this Prime Minister’s previous budgets, because it has brought better for the people of the Albert constituency whom I represent.”
Ralph Fonseca, Area Rep, Belize Rural Central
“Any accountant, any bookkeeper that the real proof as to whether you have a surplus or a deficit is what your cash position is. Now when the U.D.P. were in government, and again the auditor general’s reports shows this very, very clearly. There can be no mistake that the U.D.P. government used its overdraft at the Central Bank year after year after year and carried it right up to the hilt. The member from Albert explained to us the figures that have presented to this House by the Central Bank of Belize that can be confirmed by any institution, that at the end of 2002, the Government of Belize did not need to use its overdraft facility at the Central Bank for the first time in the history of modern Belize.”
“The first time in the history of modern Belize. In fact, we had a credit position. We were in positive position, and in fact, we had over twenty million dollars on deposit, which means that we had some seventy million in overdraft available to us; we had over twenty million dollars. We had almost one hundred million dollars to spend. So speaking about “government bruk” is nonsense. It is “nonsense on stilts”, as the Leader of the Opposition himself would say. The problem with the crowd on the other side is that they refuse to speak to the facts. Again, in the way of cash flow management, there is empirical evidence that the reserves at the end of the year were at one hundred and fourteen million U.S. dollars, two hundred and twenty-eight million Belize dollars. When the U.D.P. were there in 1998 that was at forty-three million dollars, forty-three million dollars. It has more than doubled and this is with four hurricanes and with Bin Laden. During the years that the U.D.P. were there, there were no hurricanes and there was no Bin Laden. The only disaster was the U.D.P., Manuel Esquivel and the Leader of the Opposition himself.”
