Kimlien

[Kubrick]

Economy and budget greatest challengers of junta

15 July, 5636 - 18:13
Market slump caused by coup cause of "great concern" within budget committee.

ĐÔNG KINH — The 20 March Coup of General Mạc Văn Khắc has not been good for the economy of Kim Liên as markets have still not recovered from the initial chaos. The nation's currency, the Kimlienese đồng, has crashed in value but seems to be recovering slightly in recent weeks. Recent expenditures by the military junta have allegedly put the budget committee in a difficult position. In late June they were assembled from financial experts across the different ministries and tasked by General Mạc to compose a budget by the end of July. With the deadline nearing and the junta spending more and more money the alarm has been sounded in the highest offices of the Republic. The tipping point was the financial compensation and forced wage increases for minorities across Kim Liên. In early July several mass graves were found in the border regions of the Republic. It was well-known that the Tôn regime imprisoned political opponents and that it discriminated against the ethnic minorities of the nation. The deceased in the mass graves however confirmed that the vast majority of them were an ethnic minority. General Mạc Văn Khắc released these findings promptly, adding that their cause of death was not disease or accidents. Afterwards he also announced that all families of the deceased would be financially compensated. Special teams are hard at work identifying the bodies, which may number into the thousands according to some rumours. Together with this a new project was also set up that would forcibly increase the wages of ethnic minorities with 20%. Currently they are trailing far behind the native Đinh, sometimes making up to 70% less a year.

The financial compensations were lauded by the people, but within the budget committee they caused a major problem. The millions of đồng required for this are simply not there according to insider sources. Before the announcement the committee was close to finishing the budget with an "acceptable deficit" according to one source. Now that deficit has nearly tripled. On Wednesday General Mạc also announced he would oversee the acquisitions of new military hardware before the implementation of the new constitution. This announcement came as an even greater surprise for the budget committee, with chairman Tư Mã Xương attempting to resign though the General eventually convinced him to stay. For now the budget has stalled while expenditures increase, together with the market slump it is becoming apparent that without proper intervention Kim Liên is heading towards a recession. Several economists have written an open letter addressed to Mạc Văn Khắc and the military junta requesting them to halt some of the unnecessary investments that were 'hard requirements' in the budget. Instead they ask for a lower income tax, new tax exemptions, offer subsidies for businesses to expand and set up job projects. They added that ethnic minorities could receive preferential treatment on these projects to compensate for the delayed financial compensation. For now the junta and committee seem deadlocked, but many expect General Mạc to slash the proverbial knot in the coming days.

Đinh News Network (ĐNN) is a centre-right news network aimed at expats and foreign based people of Đinh descent.