Re: 鈥淪hort-term cash for long-term commitments,鈥� editorial, Feb. 24.
I would like to add to the editorial on the budget that while the sa国际传媒 government claims to be running a surplus, the debt of sa国际传媒 residents is projected to rise by $4.6聽billion (from $67.8 billion to $72.4 billion).
The budget papers indicate the debt is financing capital projects such as health facilities, schools, post-secondary institutions and transportation. While the facilities being purchased are valuable, it is not capital that could be easily sold to pay off debt 鈥� even supposing the government wanted to use it that way.
The extra debt the spending generates will have to be repaid, just like all other government debt. From the perspective of a taxpayer, the budget looks less like a 鈥渞azor-thin鈥� surplus of $274聽million, and more like a deficit of more than $4 billion.
Constance Smith
Victoria
