Thursday is Budget day, and the government is apparently taking unparalleled steps to prevent any early leak of information:
Unprecedented security surrounds the release of Thursday's Budget amid fears that the details of a massive market-sensitive borrowing programme will be leaked.Meanwhile, at the same time it is taking all these necessary steps to provide a fair market and prevent insider trading, the government has allowed international credit ratings agency Standard and Poors - a company which stunningly failed to manage its conflicts of interest over bank credit default swaps, and which is up to its neck in the current global financial crisis - a sneak peek at the budget. Security, it seems, only applies to us plebs - not to National's foreign masters.As the Government racks up a mountain of debt, with big implications for interest rates and the dollar, the Treasury has introduced tough restrictions on who can get early access to Budget details.
