Up for discussion: Adelup's deficit reduction plan

by Mindy Aguon

Guam - The Calvo Administration's plans to borrow money for tax refunds will be the focus of Friday's special economic services meeting. The Office of Finance & Budget has called for the meeting to review the governor's proposal on how to deal with the deficit which includes plans to borrow $344 million and how restructuring debt will impact the government overall.

"But that money that would go to pay our debt is now allocated to pay operations so where is this $36 million coming from and for the financial planning for next year how do we account for that so we're going to take a look at that issue," noted Senator Ben Pangelinan. He says he supports any measures to pay tax refunds but wants to develop a mechanism to ensure that the government can stay on top of paying refunds on a timely basis to prevent having to borrow money in the future again. 

The special economic services meeting is scheduled for two o'clock tomorrow at the Legislature.