Musa Questions Where Surplus Will Come From

Kareem Musa

Musa also points to what he describes as an odd proposition being made by the Prime Minister where he puts forward that there will be a turnaround of the economy and a projected primary surplus of three point four percent.  This is in light of the fact that government has been operating in the red for successive financial years.

Kareem Musa, Area Representative, Caribbean Shores

“So where we are today, the prime minister has presented a budget and you have to look at the context in which he is presenting this budget because he is predicting, believe it or not, that we are going to have a primary surplus of three point one four percent of GDP.  In the same year that he predicted, that he stated that we are in a recession.  So imagine that, the last couple years he has been operating a deficit.  Even in his glory days when he had so much money he couldn’t produce a surplus.  But now that the economy has crashed that our industries are failing, he is predicting a surplus.  Imagine how incongruous that is.  It makes absolutely no sense in a year when he has to pay ninety million in salary increase to teachers, in a year when he continues to pay more and more on this judgment to his good friend Lord Michael Ashcroft, a total of six hundred million.  He still has payments to make and so how is it that you want the Belizean people to swallow that you are now going to turn this thing around, you are now going to be a responsible prime minister and curtail your expenses.  But you know where the expenses are going to hit?  It is the people of Belize that will have to tighten their belt, not these ministers in government that are wastefully spending their money.  It is the people of Belize that will have to bear this burden and that is what I find to be totally disgraceful and totally disgusting Isani.”