Mr. Chairman, it is 53.

---Laughter

Introductory Remarks, Department Of Finance

No, it is not that long. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The 1992-93 budget of the Department of Finance contains very limited forced growth funding. No new initiatives are being proposed.

The department's service responsibility to all departments, and to many boards and agencies continues to be of high priority. During the upcoming year, the procedures and computer systems that support the financial operations of the government will need to be revised to accommodate the extensive reorganizations and decentralizations planned by many departments. These systems must be revised to ensure the processing of financial transactions in an efficient manner, and to meet the needs of the government.

Mr. Chairman, the department's budget reflects growth in the following areas:

- Interest expense related to borrowing to cover the projected cash deficit during the latter part of the 1992-93 fiscal year;

- Increased funding for power subsidy programs arising from volume and price increases in electrical power used by Government of the Northwest Territories' consumers outside of Yellowknife; and

- Increased cost in computer usage due to rate and volume changes being experienced by the central accounting system. This system is used by all departments, however, the budget is located in the Department of Finance.

In an effort to minimize the impact of these forced growth areas, a total of $399,000 and 5.9 person years cuts were made to the department's budget.

An additional funding decrease of $596,000 resulted from the reduction in interest required for the bonds issued to purchase the N.W.T. Power Corporation, since each year 10 percent of the principal is repaid.

In total, the department's budget will increase by only $553,000 over the original 1991-92 Main Estimates.

Mr. Chairman, this budget represents a significant decrease in activity by the department over the 1991-92 fiscal year. In total the budget represents a decrease of $1.975 million from the revised 1991-92 budget. Thank you.