Daily cost of paying interest on NT’s hefty debt bill hits $1.041 million according to Treasury report
THE daily cost of servicing the NT Government’s debt has hit a new high, the NT Treasury’s latest quarterly outlook revealed
Northern Territory
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THE daily cost of servicing the NT Government’s debt rose by more than 3 per cent to hit $1.041m a day in 2019/20, NT Treasury’s latest quarterly outlook has revealed.
Released quietly last week, the NT Government’s promised mid-August financial report shows the NT’s total revenue takings were slightly lower and its total debt slightly higher in 2019/20 as compared to the COVID-19 fiscal update released in July.
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Total revenue in 2019/20 was $6.57bn while total debt hit $5.78bn.
The NT’s debt is expected to hit $8.2bn by July 2021.
The financial report also showed the NT’s interest paid in 2019/20 hit $380.3m at the end of June 2020, up from a forecast $367.3m as per the mid-year fiscal outlook (MYEFO) released in December last year.
This means it cost the Territory $1.041m a day to service its hefty debt in 2019/20, while the estimates for this financial year have not been released.
The MYEFO, released before coronavirus kicked the world in the guts, estimated the daily debt interest bill would hit $1.13m in 2020/21.
Treasurer Nicole Manison, who has not held a press conference since July 30, said the government made “no apologies” for doing what it could to save jobs during the pandemic and defended its “long-term budget repair plan”.
Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro said the NT’s budget had been “smashed well before the COVID-19 crisis”.
“The Chief Minister needs to acknowledge that, he can’t keep using COVID-19 as an excuse for his extreme debt and deficit budget failures,” she said.
It comes as Territory Alliance’s leader Terry Mills said the party would headhunt for a “highly qualified” economist to lead the NT out of the COVID-19 induced economic recession, saying the expert’s wage could be sourced from within existing budgets.
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Mr Mills, defending his plan against similar criticism the Territory Economic Reconstruction Commission has sustained for “outsourcing” the job of government, said it was about “empowering the decision making process”.
Originally published as Daily cost of paying interest on NT’s hefty debt bill hits $1.041 million according to Treasury report