"Budgetary support from Taiwan" - we've been hearing about that since the 90's - basically it means a soft loan or grant to cover the budget deficit - and government always has a deficit to cover. So after about 20 years of the Taiwan Tango, governments red and blue have probably gotten something like 500 million US dollars in budgetary support from Taiwan. That's why it didn't raise many eyebrows when a loan motion for another 25 million US dollars from Taiwan went to the House last week. But in the Senate - which likes its T's crossed and its I's dotted "just so", it did generate debate. The PUP side demanded to know what "budgetary support" means exactly. Here's the back and forth:
Hon. Paul Thompson. PUP Senator
"This is 25 million US dollars, that's 50 million Belize dollars. That's not a small sum, that's a hefty sum, Mr. President. I ask these questions looking for answers, but also rhetorically. Mr. President as we are painfully aware that the nation's finances are in a bad situation after years of mismanagement, after years of freelancing, after years of partying, after years of rolling it, and miss-spending, years of flying blindly without an economic plan, we are now forced to borrow to simply meet day to day expenses."
Hon. Michael Peyrefitte, UDP Senator
"I agree with my friend Senator Thompson who said that after all the partying and all the, the good times, yes, from all the partying and all the good times from 1998 to 2008, it has put us in the position where we have to still be making loans to buttress the finances of this country."
Hon. Valerie Woods, PUP Senator
"I am not going to go down the road of 'we are here because of PUP 1998 to 2008'. There are many reasons why we are here. Previous, past governments and this government is why we are here. So, in this chamber, let's not bring party politics to every single thing and at the start of this new year, let's try to approach this chamber with some decorum and dignity and stick to the facts. So I do take issue with the fact that a purpose for a 25 million US dollar loan is listed as General Budgetary Support, because there are no details in that one liner. We just want to know, and it's not just us by the way, it's the people of Belize want to know what will 25 million US dollars be used for to support the budget?"
Hon. Macario Coy, UDP Senator
"It's clear, Budget, Support isn't it General? So what specific is it? Isn't that making it clear there? And I'm glad that she asked some couple questions if this had occurred in the past. What else? it happened in the past at least we're not doing it in the present for clarification."
Hon. Dr. Carla Barnett, UDP Senator
"General budget support is not by definition anything negative in fact moving towards general budget support is a way in which lenders are seeking to get greater efficiency in the allocation and use of their resources rather than becoming involved in the nitty-gritty of managing a lot of projects on the ground on a bilateral basis."
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