Brakes off

in Samoa

From FELISE VA’A, in Apia It was all brakes off in Western Samoa’s financial machine when Minister Tofa Siaosi produced his budget in November. “Development and more development” was his mes sage.

And to hit the target, the govern ment has shown its readiness to budget for deficits in the estimates and to borrow large sums from abroad, which represent major shifts in policy.

The Mataafa Government was ultra-conservative in its approach to government and local affairs. In its budget policy it urged moderation, caution and balanced estimates. It did consider loans, but not to the extent now proposed by the new government.

Not surprisingly, therefore, the Finance Minister’s estimates for 1972 contained budgeted receipts of $8,997,430 and payments of $9,420,780 resulting in a budgeted deficit of $423,350.

Total estimated revenue is made up of ordinary revenue from gov ernment departments of $7,808,780, grants of $202,700 and various loans totalling $985,950.

On the expenditure side, capital and maintenance will total $6,925,045, statutory expenditure $534,181 and development expenditure $1,961,554.

With money from other sources, total development aid for 1972 will probably be in excess of $3 million, said the minister.

The largest individual depart mental allocations have been made to education $1,088,350, health $950,670, public works $655,670 and agriculture $383,500.

Although the 1971 main and sup plementary estimates budgeted for a deficit of $432,900, it was likely that government receipts and pay ments would be about balanced for the year, Minister Tofa said.

The minister had mixed feelings about Western Samoa’s export trade.

He was happy about the considerable improvement for the first nine months this year as compared with last year’s exports, but there was a noticeable drop in two of the main exports, cocoa and bananas. Cocoa exports of 1,694 tons earned $791,800 over the first nine months, a shortfall of 316 tons and $47,200.

Banana exports for the nine months

brought in $422,200 as compared with $430,000 in the corresponding period of 1970.

The biggest gainer was copra with 12,326 tons exported as compared with 9,619 for the same period last year.

The minister blamed the weather for the decrease in cocoa production, and irregularity of shipping, diseases and increased local consumption for keeping the banana exports down.

However, despite decreases in the cocoa and banana exports, total exports receipts for the first nine months came to $3,296,200 as com pared with $2,802,200 last year.

Timber was mainly responsible for the healthy look of exports, showing a spectacular leap in revenue from $4,600 for the nine months last year to $195,900 this year. The rest of the exports totalled $378,000, a healthy $43,000 over the $335,000 last year.

Increased overseas sales of taro were mainly responsible.