The Government broke tradition by not releasing the Economic Review for Bermuda along with the Budget Statement last week. It will be released instead a week later, just as debate on the budget begins.
Minister Cox tries to spin a happy face saying “the delay centres around design flaws with the document, and we are of the view that it is better to sacrifice promptness for accuracy.”
That’s a lame excuse. Many in the community suspect that this is a petty manouvre to separate the economic news from Government’s belt-busting 2008 budget, and even to prevent informed debate on it. The other concern arises over Government’s moral confusion over editing for accuracy versus for their own palatability.
The budget debate should be delayed until all the underpinning facts are made public. This type of manipulation of parliamentary process has become all too frequent in recent years, aiming to thwart debate on proposed laws or Government actions.
Shame on Minister Cox and the Ministry of Finance for playing along with it.
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