The latest figures for public spending, tax revenue and borrowing published yesterday showed more progress in reducing the running deficit.  Total state borrowing adjusted for the bonds the Bank of England has bought in remains at a moderate level, around 65% of GDP.

The main reason new  borrowing is reducing is the continued good growth in tax receipts. In the period April 2016 to January 2017 tax revenues were 5% higher than in the same period of the previous financial year. This reflects the continued growth of the UK economy. Self assessment income tax receipts and corporation tax receipts showed especially strong growth based on improved business activity and investment prospects.

This increase in tax allowed an increase of 2% in public spending and a reduction in the rate of new borrowing. In the financial year to date central government current spending is up by 1.4% and local government current spending up by 10.2%.  Central government net investment rose by 6%.  (ONS official figures). There are some areas where it may be necessary to spend more.

It is still a good idea to spend  money wisely. Ending our EU contributions  is an obvious improvement to make. There are issues with poor value for money in parts of the overseas aid budget. There are  more opportunities to help people into work, to cut the benefit bill by substituting earnings from work. There are many efficiency improvements to be made in areas like railway spending, which is running at high levels.

The government also  needs to be careful over tax rates. Taxing income may be a necessity, but it is not wise to tax working and investing too heavily as it can do considerable economic damage and prove self defeating. The budget is an ideal time to review current rates and ask which taxes should be lower in order to raise more revenue as and when economic growth delivers more cash.

22 February 2017 – As relief organizations increase response to the humanitarian emergency in the north-east of Nigeria, timely donor support amounting to a little over $1 billion is required to sustain life-saving assistance to millions people devastated by Boko Haram-linked violence, the United Nations relief aid wing has said.

&#8220If the resources do not arrive in time, one in five children suffering sever acute malnutrition could die,&#8221 said Peter Lundberg, the Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria in a press release issued yesterday by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

&#8220The likelihood of a child with severe acute malnutrition surviving is nine times less than a properly nourished child,&#8221 he added.

According to OCHA, the eight-year-long conflict has left some 8.5 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in the worst-affected states of Nigeria’s north-east. In the coming months, around 5.1 million people will face severe food insecurity in the region, where some 1.8 million people have been displaced and millions are exposed to violence and abuse.

&#8220Food assistance alone will cost $1 million a day to avoid famine in a region where 450,000 children under five will suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year,&#8221 said Mr. Lundberg. &#8220Sustained and timely financial support is needed to maintain the scale-up in operations desperately needed in the north-east of Nigeria.&#8221

RELATED: UN food relief agency chief welcomes progress on anti-hunger programmes in north-east Nigeria

During a recent visit by representatives of 12 donor countries and agencies to Borno state, in the run up to the 24 February Humanitarian Conference on Nigeria and Lake Chad region, they lauded the scale-up of humanitarian operations in the north-east and emphasized the need for more funding, a stance the humanitarian community in Nigeria concurs with.

&#8220We are grateful to our donors who have enabled us scale up the response and appreciate their continued commitment. We look forward to receiving the needed resources to implement the 2017 Humanitarian Response Plan for Nigeria,&#8221 Mr. Lundberg said.

Former Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen [File photo: Chinanews.com]

Hong Kong’s former Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen was sentenced to 20 months in prison on Wednesday for misconduct while in office.

He will be sent to prison immediately.

Justice Andrew Chan of Hong Kong’s High Court said he had set a starting point of 30 months in prison, but gave a discount of ten months because of Tsang’s past good character and service to Hong Kong.

Tsang was found guilty last Friday of a charge of misconduct for failing to declare a conflict of interest when he approved applications for radio broadcasting license by a broadcasting company Wave Media.

He had faced two charges of misconduct and one charge of bribery. The nine jurors entered a majority verdict last Friday of one charge of misconduct. Tsang was cleared of another charge of misconduct.

The jury could not reach a decision on whether Tsang was guilty of accepting advantage. The judge has tentatively scheduled the proceeding to September, but a date has yet to be fixed.

China will “stabilize and improve its macroeconomic policies” and deepen reforms to achieve its economic and social development goals this year, according to a statement released after a key meeting on Tuesday.

The nation will continue to adopt proactive fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy, according to the meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, which was presided over by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee.

Coordination of industrial, regional, investment, consumption, price, land and environmental protection policies will be strengthened, and reforms in key fields will be deepened to achieve better results, the meeting decided. Innovation will be promoted to help improve the efficiency of the economy and release domestic growth potential, participants agreed.

The meeting highlighted the significance of 2017, since the 19th CPC National Congress will convene later in the year.

Acknowledging that China has scored a strong start for the 13th Five Year Plan (2016-20) period, the meeting called for further efforts to balance multiple economic tasks this year, including stabilizing growth, advancing reforms, pushing restructuring, improving people’s livelihoods and preventing risks.

The meeting was held ahead of the two sessions－the annual meetings of the country’s top legislature and the top political advisory body that will be held in early March.

Supply-side structural reform will be further pushed and people’s livelihoods should be improved, the meeting statement said.

The meeting also decided that China will push the supply-side reform of agriculture to ensure healthy growth and increased income for farmers.

Tuesday’s meeting also decided that the government should improve governance to “better serve the people”.

According to the statement, 247 Party organizations have been inspected by teams sent from the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Party’s top anti-graft agency, since the inspection effort was launched in 2013.

The inspections, with a focus on sticking to the Party’s leadership, have functioned as a “political microscope” and a “political searchlight”, under which supervision of following the Party’s rules has been enhanced, said the statement.

On Tuesday, the CCDI disclosed information on its recent 11th round of inspections of Party and government agencies, institutes, associations and news media, such as the Supreme People’s Court, the Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC and China Central Television.

“The meeting highlighted the most important tasks for China this year,” said Liang Haiming, chief economist of the China Silk Road iValley Research Institute. “It highlights reform, innovation and people’s livelihoods.”

It is a must for China to further carry out reforms because the international situation has changed rapidly, Liang said.

After Taliban blew up the world’s two largest Buddha statues in Bamyan, Afghanistan, 16 years ago, the 32-meter-high standing statue of Buddha in Sichuan became the largest on Earth.

However, despite its splendid view on Mt. Baxian, 891 meters high above the sea level, the origin of the statue remains elusive.

Its builders and dynasties have yet to be identified, and its hairstyle, earlobes and dressings are different from conventional Buddha statues. For example, Buddhas don’t usually wear bracelets. Moreover, this Buddha statue looks like it’s wearing an apron, which distinguishes its clothing from others.

Although the ambiguous elements of the statue perplexes historians, experts still believe the Buddha statue has distinctive historic value.