As the truth of our economic predicament sets in, readers may find it useful to look back at previous budgets since 2001.
One will easily note that in a nine-year period up to 2010, national budgets increased by over 300%, and while this happened, oil and gas production declined, there were drastic declines in drilling, negligible diversification, foreign investment plunged, and the State was plagued by over-budget mega projects.
In the years 2011 to 2015, national budgets increased by approximately 26% in spite of non-boom oil and gas prices, with increases in oil and gas exploration and new investments, as well as completed and delivered large-scale projects.
Budget’s 2001 to 2010
Budget 2001 (Brian Kuei Tung) - $13.448B
Budget 2002 (Gerald Yetming) - $14.428B
Budget 2003 (Patrick Manning) - $20B
Budget 2004 (Patrick Manning) - $22.331B
Budget 2005 (Patrick Manning) - $27,917B
Budget 2006 (Patrick Manning) - $34,119B
Budget 2007 (Patrick Manning) - $38,054B
Budget 2008 (Karen Nunez-Tesheira) - $42.260B