He got up, buttoned his jacket and Dr Ashni Singh was set to read the ‘largest’ ever budget – $208.8B – but not before a mini lecture to his colleagues on the opposition benches who he upbraided for their “unproductive, and oftentimes counterproductive pursuits” in the National Assembly.
Unusually for a Finance Minister on Budget Day, Dr Singh arrived past the 2 pm expected start time and purposefully strode into Parliament Chambers, took his seat and waited patiently for Speaker Raphael Trotman to declare the sitting open. After a few preliminaries he was called upon to read his budget speech, which was called a “people’s” budget
