Brown upbcat in bIuc

SurpIus now, dchcit ncxt ycar

FINANCEMInIsrcr MarkBrown
worc a bIuc rIc ycsrcrday.
Ir was a srrarcgIc wardrobc
choIcc, onchcsaIdwas symboIIc
of a surpIus budgcr.
"If Ir wcrc a dccIr I wouId'vc
worn a rcd rIc, hc roId mcdIa,
smIIIng.
Brown appIaudcd rhc MIn-
Isrry of FInancc and EconomIc
Managcmcnr (MFEM), nancIaI
sccrcrary RIchard Ncvcs and hIs
budgcr commIrrccfor rhcIr hard
work In prcparIng rhc Budgcr,
whIch was rabIcd ycsrcrday and
rcccrs a $9S,000 surpIus.
ThIs Budgcr brcaks ncw
groundInrhar Ir Is prcscnrcdac-
cordIng ro Govcrnmcnr FInan-
cIaI SrarIsrIcs - an InrcrnarIon-
aIIy rccognIscd framcwork. Thc
Improvcmcnr of nancIaI man-
agcmcnr sysrcms Is "scrrIng a
rrcnd, scrrIng a pacc In rhc rc-
gIonas rohowrhIs Is bcIngdonc
and rhIs Is somcrhIng wc'rc rc-
aIIy proud of, Brown saId.
"Thc rcamhas bccn workIng
rcaIIy, rcaIIy hard on rhIs.
Hc says Improvcd sysrcms
formrhc basIs for Incrcascd aId
fromdonor parrncrs In fururc.
"Ir's Imporranr wc gcr rhcsc
sysrcms and srrucrurcs and
framcworks In pIacc now bc-
causc Ir Is on rhosc framcworks
and on rhosc srrucrurcs rhar
fururc fundIng, cspccIaIIy gov-
crnmcnr assIsranccfundIngrhar
comcs Infromour parrncrs, wIII
bc hookcd.
"SofarcvcryrhIngwc'rcdoIng
rIghr nowpoInrs rowards grcar
supporr fromour dcvcIopmcnr
parrncrs In rhc way wc'rc srruc-
rurIng our fInancIaI managc-
mcnr sysrcms Inrcgardrorrans-
fcrrIng dcvcIopmcnr assIsrancc
Inro accounrabIc, monIrorabIc
and rcsuIrs-orIcnrcd ourpurs.
"Thar's bccn rhc dIfcuIry In
rhc pasr Is rhar dcvcIopmcnr as-
sIsrancc Is avaIIabIc bur Ir (has
bccn) dIfcuIr for dcvcIopmcnr
parrncrs ro pur Ir Inro arcas
bccausc wc havcn'r prIorIrIscd
(rhcm).
Brown saId rhc ncw sryIc of
budgcrIng and rcporrIng cn-
surcs a grcar dcgrcc of consIsr-
cncy fromycar ro ycar, and wIII
cngcndcr "acruaI rcsuIrs.
"Thc mcssagcs I'm gcrrIng
fromour parrncrs Is wc'rchcad-
Ing down rhc rIghr rrack.
Brown prcdIcrs rhar offIcIaI
dcvcIopmcnr assIsrancc wIII
"casIIyIncrcascIncomIngycars
"as wc dcmonsrrarc ro dcvcIop-
mcnr parrncrs rhar ours sysrcms
arc quIrc capabIc of managIng,
urIIIsIng and producIng rhc rc-
suIrs rhar rhcIr funds wIII bcpur
rowards.
Hc says govcrnmcnr Is com-
mIrrcd ro dcmonsrrarIng ro dc-
vcIopmcnr parrncrs rhar aIdwIII
bc uscd "corrccrIy and "prop-
crIy, and ro provIng ro raxpay-
crs rhar "rhc moncy provIdcd
rhrough rhc budgcr proccss Is
doIng whar Ir's supposcd ro bc
doIng.
"If youcomparc(rhIs Budgcr)
ro whar orhcr counrrIcs arc do-
Ing around rhc rcgIon I rhInk
wc'rc doIng rcaIIy, rcaIIy wcII.
Ncvcs andrhcrcamar MFEM
havc gonc pubIIc wIrh rhcIr In-
rcnrIon ro makc rhc Cook Is-
Iands' fInancIaI managcmcnr
sysrcm"rhc pcarI of rhc PacIc.
Brown saId ycsrcrday rhar rhc
rcIcasc of rhrcc Budgcr books
rcprcscnrcd a "bIg srcp In rhc
rIghr dIrccrIon. RR
In the b|ue - rlme Mlnlster Henry una and Ilnance Mlnlster Mark 8rown alter tab|lng thelr sur|us budget lor zoz-1 ln ar|lament
yesterday. 8udget coverage, ages 1-o.
AFTERInIrIaIIypro}ccrInga$2.1
mIIIIondccIr, govcrnmcnr has
managcd ro baIancc Irs books.
AccordIngIy, rhc Budgcr rcccrs
a surpIus of abour $9S,000 for
rhc ncw nancIaI ycar.
Thc combIncd cffccr of rhc
Incrcascd dcparrurc rax In rhc
2013-2014 fInancIaI ycar, rhc
Incrcasc of Imporr IcvIcs on ro-
bacco, aIcohoI and zzy drInks,
andrhc 15pcrccnr wIrhhoIdIng
rax, Is Incrcascd rcvcnuc.
Govcrnmcnr currcnrIy has
abour $15S mIIIIon - of Irs own
rcvcnuc and monIcs conrrIb-
urcd by ovcrscas dcvcIopmcnr
parrncrs - ro spcnd. Thc MIn-
Isrry of FInancc and EconomIc
Managcmcnr (MFEM) cxpccrs
rcvcnuc ro grow ovcr rhc ncxr
fcw ycars.
WhIIc rhc Budgcr Is In rhc
bIuc, MFEManrIcIparcs a dc-
cIr ncxr ycar anda rcrurn rosur-
pIus rhc foIIowIng ycar.
Ar prcscnr, MFEMcsrImarcs
Ir rakcs $26.S mIIIIon ro fund
govcrnmcnr's day-ro-day op-
crarIng cxpcnscs, bur offscr by
borrowIngs and cxpcndIrurcs
rhc baIancc scrrIcs ar $9S,000.
Of govcrnmcnr's rcvcnuc,
abour $92 mIIIIon dcrIvcs from
raxcs. ToraI undcrIyIng rcv-
cnucs arc csrImarcd ar $110.S
mIIIIon, rcccrInganIncrcascof
$2.1 mIIIIon (2.9 pcrccnr) from
Iasr ycar. ThIs fIgurc Is rcfIcc-
rIvc of a 9.6 pcrccnr Incrcasc In
granrs from dcvcIopmcnr parr-
ncrs for Infrasrrucrurc pro}ccrs.
ToraI undcrIyIng cxpcndI-
rurcs arc csrImarcd ar $113.S
mIIIIon, rcccrInganIncrcascof
abour $2.5mIIIIonInspcndIng,
ducroIncrcascs IndcprccIarIon,
buIIdIng maInrcnancc, pay-
mcnrs on bchaIf of rhc Crown
(POBOC) andgovcrnmcnr'sncw
InIrIarIvcs.
POBOCs havc Incrcascd by
$2.9 mIIIIon ro hIr rhc $43.2
mIIIIon mark. Thc buIk of
rhar Incrcasc dcrIvcs from rhc
aIrIInc undcrwrIrcs, from rhc
provIsIon of $500,000 for rhc
PacIc IsIands Lcadcrs Forum,
rhc ccnrraIIsarIon of mInIsrrIcs'
saIarIcs, rhc Incrcasc In rhc oId-
agcpcnsIon(forwhIch$400,000
has bccn budgcrcd) and rhc
$320,000 cosr of csrabIIshIng
a Scabcd MIncraIs UnIr ar rhc
MInIsrry of MarInc Rcsourccs.
Thar rcsuIrs In a ncr opcrar-
Ing baIancc of abour $26.S mII-
IIon and an opcrarIng surpIus
of $9S,000.
Ruche Reeves
ALL THE NUMBERS

$98,000surplus

$26.8m net operating balance

$158.2 in revenues (including aid)

$92m in taxes up from $89m

$131.8m in expenditure increase of $2.5m

$1.2m for new initiatives

$93.6m in debt down from $107m

GDP expected to grow
5%

$192m in deposits up from $186m

$3.45m in savings

$103.7m negative trade balance

$43min POBOC up $2.9m

IRIDAx sA1URDAx sUNDAx MONDAx 1UsDAx

Creative Centre Tupapa
5.30pm for 6pm Friday Ph 55097
For information or a free
quote call 22713 or email
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Juicy
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22999
FrIday, Junc S, 2012
wcn+ncn

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