Understandably, all eyes are on the forthcoming budget to be unveiled on 1 September. The government has been pursuing a pragmatic fiscal policy in recent years, with deficit budgets to stimulate the economy, in the aftermath of the 1997/98 financial crisis. What makes this fiscal policy all the more palatable is that the deficits have not only been kept within manageable limits but also been downsized gradually with a view to eventually balancing the books. Publication: MIERScan, 21 August 2006.