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...cial Secretary feels an almost personal resentment about the way that the programe has mushroomed beyond (in his estimate) the ability to afford it. Losing is taking an increasing proportion of recurrent expenditure by 1978 it will be about 9 housing alone will account for some 2,157 million or 1 of
If to this is the total expenditure on capital works over the next ten years. aded the cost of the other buildings and infrastructure in the new towas, the total is over $9,000 million. Cr put in another way, now ..... to 1978 housing and public works could between them spend some $2,500m per annum provided they are up to strength. The Finance Secretary estimates the maximum that can be offered There in financial terms is 2,200 million per annum for public works and housing. is an evident tight fit. There is a clear implication in his speech (paragraphs 105 to 103) that he would like to cut back on the target but since he cannot do this in view of the public commitments and he cannot make further cuts in other programmes, all that he can do is to try to keep these public works within the $2,200 million. But one “
that there is an almost desperate hope in his reference to the possibility that the total manpower resources might not be adequate to meet all the programmes in the time envisaged. There is the possibility I think that the result of the study which he has commissioned on the availability
for local capital of manpower resources and the balance between
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works and money earning exports will provide a basis for him yet to ask for some cutback in some part of the programme. If this were to happen I suspect that because of the public commitments and the social and political implications of not pursuing them, the axe or the brake - would be applied particularly to some of the other public works contracts eg roads and tunnels. It is tempting to wonder whether it might even yet apply to the MTS but I should think that now very unlikely.
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10. The other target on which he seems to be beamed in his speech is the general welfare sevices. His reference in paragraph 69 to "concern" over the growing relative dependence on public funds of institutions managed by volunteer agencies is one of a number of sublimal pointers in the Budget to an intent if possible to
Not that Hong stem any tendancy to drift too sharply towards a welfare state. Kong is yet anywhere near that point. And as figures show, almost grudgingly one feels, the total spent on public assistance in infirmatory and disability allow- ances is a very small proportion indeed of the total recurrent account and although subventions to various bodies account for some 25% of the recurrent account much of this is to schools and hospitals rather than in any direct assistance to individuals. It may well be that the school and hospital programmes themselves will have to take some of the burden of any cuts that are necessary to helg substain the housing programme. ducation for example account at present for 25% of the recurrent expenditure and some 7% of the total recurrent expenditure and that is without any increase in secondary, university or technical education-all of wich seem inevitablo. The medical services come second in the recurrent expenditure stakes and will presumably also be prone to demands for cconomy.
11.
Conversely to the savings it is clear that every effort will continue to sc made to get the maximum profit out of Governments major asset, namely the lanke, this will so far as possible continue to be sold at the best possible auction price and although there is now a policy for making land available at a special negotiated price for certain export earning industries, I think it can be expected that this will be fairly vigorously controlled and that the case will have to be good before this "subsidy" is given.
12. Geloral effect
...in of this makes good Budgetary housekeeping sense but it could have some difficult political and social consequences which clearly are going to have vo
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