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

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”.