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The eSA Minister of Finance (Al Kazar) has presented the National Budget in the National Assembly for discussion and approval by Congress.

The Budget is reproduced below. Visit the National Assembly on the eSA Forums to take part in the discussion and, if you are a member of Congress, vote on approving the Budget.

Economic Summary

Our country financial position has changed fairly drastically in recent times. We have gone from receiving huge amounts of tax income (like a million ZAR per month) to only receiving about 100 000 ZAR per month in taxes. This is probably due to the market bot no longer buying products from the market and due to the increase in the value of local currency in Gold terms.

A few months ago it cost about 2000 ZAR to buy 1 Gold but now you can get 1 Gold for 500 ZAR or less. 1000 local currency (ZAR) is therefore now equivalent to about 2 Gold instead of the about 0.5 Gold it used to be worth a few months ago.

In Gold terms our tax income has reduced by a smaller percentage than in ZAR terms (from the equivalent of about 500 Gold to about 200 Gold per month), but this is still less than half of what it used to be.

This also means that the fixed local currency cost of things like MPP's now cost us more in Gold terms. The 10 000 ZAR cost of signing an MPP is now equivalent to about 20 Gold instead of the about 5 Gold it used to cost.

MPP's therefore now take a bigger bite out of our income than they used to, thereby requiring a bigger percentage of our income to be set aside for this purpose.

I therefore suggest that we be more careful choosing which and how many MPP's we sign each month. Each MPP signed needs to be of definite benefit for our country.

Products on the market, such as food and weapons, should however now cost less than they used to, meaning that a smaller percentage of our income should need to be allocated for military and social supplies.

Rental Payment from eBrazil

eBrazil pay us a substantial monthly rental for the regions they are renting from us. As this amount has remained constant we now receive more from eBrazil in real (Gold) terms than before (although less in ZAR terms). As we only effectively lose one food resource bonus of 10% (Deer in Eastern Cape), the rental we receive from eBrazil more than compensates us for any economic loss.

The amount we receive from eBrazil each month is worth more than 270 Gold per month, which is more than we raise in taxes from our remaining regions.

From an economic viewpoint, the treaty with eBrazil is very beneficial to our country.

Actual Income for September

Taking taxes and the rental payment received from eBrazil into account, our total income for last month was equivalent to about 236 000 ZAR or 472 Gold.

Taxes - 0.0 Gold - 100 398.50 ZAR - 100 398.50 ZAR Value - 200.8 Gold Value
Rental - 48.0 Gold - 112 000.00 ZAR - 136 000.00 ZAR Value - 272.0 Gold Value
Total - 48.0 Gold - 212 398.50 ZAR - 236 398.50 ZAR Value - 472.8 Gold Value

(ZAR-Gold value based on 1 Gold = 500 ZAR)

We signed 5 MPP's last month at a cost of 50 000 ZAR (or 100 Gold). This leaves us with an Actual Income of:

48.0 Gold - 162 398.50 ZAR - 186 398.50 ZAR Value - 372.8 Gold Value

Military Defence

It is intended to possibly sign 7 MPP's this month (with eAustralia also a possibility) so we may need to spend a total of 90 000 ZAR (~180 Gold) on these during October. (We have already signed one (eBrazil) plus one extra (eSweden)).

As Congress approves these expenses when and if they approve an MPP, I am not including these costs in this budget. These costs will come out of the total income that will used to determine next months budget.

Last month a new military initiative (the Military Unification Supply Trust) was started and government provided a 1 000 000 ZAR startup boost to this fund, with the approval of Congress.

The Ministry of Defence requires funding for the eSAAF and for a further contribution to the MUST Fund. This funding is essential for the unification and growth of our military and our citizens who are also all soldiers in our military in one way or another. The bulk of our available income should therefore be allocated to this Ministry.

I am therefore requesting the allocation of 150 000 ZAR to the Ministry of Defence.

Social Development

The social development of our citizens is essential to keeping and helping new citizens, and to the continual growth of our citizens. SAWGO and the NPP (New Player Program) play a big role in this, although I do think we need to take a fresh look at how government helps citizens with food and weapon supplies.

SAWGO spent about 20 000 ZAR on supplies last month, but still has about 90 000 ZAR remaining, so no additional funding is required for this month.

The NPP was inactive for a while but is once again ready to help new players and requires about 20 000 ZAR for this purpose.

Another important part of retaining citizens and keeping them active is providing interesting and fun activities. The Department of Culture has some interesting plans in this regard. 5000 ZAR was requested to fund these activities but I think we need to allocate a bit more on this important aspect, so I have allocated 10 000 ZAR for this purpose.

I am therefore requesting the allocation of 30 000 ZAR to the Ministry of Domestic Affairs (20 000 for the NPP and 10 000 for the DoC).

Summary

No other Ministries or Departments have requested any funding this month as they are able to function without funding. I am therefore requesting to allocate a total of 180 000 ZAR of our approximately 186 000 ZAR actual income (in ZAR value).

Ministry of Defence: 150 000
Ministry of Domestic Affairs: 30 000
Total: 180 000

Actual Income: 186 398.50
Budget Allocation: 180 000.00
Balance: 6 398.50