This is the first budget to be introduced since this Government returned to power. It is firmly based on our election manifesto and represents the initial stages of implementing the strategy for economic and social progress set out in that manifesto and further developed in the recently published White Paper on National Development, 1977-80.
This budget is of particular significance because it is the first for a number of years to be set in the context of a formal and positive commitment to medium-term planning. It is crucial to our plans to revitalise the economy and set it on a path of faster, self-sustained growth. The increased public expenditure and the tax concessions for which it provides will give an impetus to economic activity and help create the conditions under which the private sector can take over as the engine of growth.