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{
    "id": 509315,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/509315/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 56,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Bunyasi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2511,
        "legal_name": "John Sakwa Bunyasi",
        "slug": "john-sakwa-bunyasi"
    },
    "content": "Hon. Speaker, I know most hon. Members will agree with me that increasing the debt ceiling is not tantamount to approving borrowing. But if you look at this historically in this country and any other country, you will find that there is a positive correlation. If the debt ceiling goes up, borrowing goes up as well. You will rarely find a case – if you have to graph it - where debt ceiling is rising and the actual debt incurred is declining because it will negate the need for raising the debt ceiling. We know that these are like twins. They may not be empirical, but they look alike. When the debt ceiling rises, the amount of debt itself will also rise. Therefore, when the House is left with the responsibility of approving individual projects as well as the overall portfolio, which is what is defined as the MTE programme as revised from time to time, it requires the attention of every hon. Member. Any hon. Member who is worried that the increase in debt ceiling will increase debt and, therefore, increase the indebtedness that our grandchildren and great grandchildren will have to bear, must be in the House on such days and must be able to vet these projects carefully. We must take a stand on the quality of the portfolio that is proposed. Some of this comes in fairly technical papers that come before this House; such at the Budget Policy Statement. If we pass this proposed increase, it should now receive enhanced attention. Come next February, whenever it will come before this House, we will ensure that the Government succeeds by sticking with the portfolio that will generate faster growth that can sustain this particular debt. Hon. Speaker, this is a bad time in this country because our export capacity is being hampered. Our tourism and tea prices are down and if our debt service capacity were calculated on the basis of today’s ratios, it would be problematic because the outlook is not so bright at the moment. Therefore, I would expect that later, particularly during the Budget Policy Statement, we pay special attention towards what the Government says will happen in the external sector because of where the money comes from to service debts. There is no other place. The only other way of servicing debt is to borrow from somebody else, pay the current debt and continue to incur a debt. So, we should pay special attention to that. The other aspect that we must be careful about is that the more you borrow, the more you have to pay and the more you will have to finance from your annual appropriations. You have to finance debt service as well as interest. That takes away money from the current obligations that might be there. We are at a time when we are supporting devolution; we have a very young population and our demand for the health and education sectors are large. If we have large amounts of money to service occupying space in the annual Budget, it takes away money from these very crucial expenditures. Therefore, much as we agree on the one hand that we need to get faster growth and support infrastructure development, we must also be cautious on how it will impact both the Budget as well as the export sector. It is crucially important that when the House is concerned about the likely impact such debt would have on this country and its future generations, it carefully looks at every contract the Government signs that obligates this nation to a debt. It also must approve by looking at every specific contract, not just the numbers of Government guaranteed debt. This debt ceiling that is being proposed covers both direct borrowing by Government as well as the guarantees that the Government might do on debts by other public sector institutions. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}