The Assembly,
Adopts the following opinion :
1. It is proposed that Vote III of the 1973 Budget be drawn up as set out below :
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Remuneration of days worked by temporary staff engaged on short contracts for Assembly part-sessions and meetings of Assembly bodies between part-sessions, calculated on the scales in force at the time of preparing this draft.
Article 32 of the Statute of the Council of Europe entitles the Assembly to meet for one month in a year.
The 1973 estimates are based on 19 meeting days, including a Joint Meeting with the European Parliament. The question of the Joint Meeting is still outstanding.
It is interesting to note that after the very sharp increase in the remuneration of temporary staff from 1970 to 1971 following the introduction of German and Italian as Assembly working languages, expenditure on temporary staff will be higher in 1973 than in 1971 only because of die increased remuneration rates. It will be remembered that die initial increase in the appropriation under this sub-head caused by the addition of two new working languages was 700 000 F.
The estimate for 1973 is based on past experience and the information provided above and was calculated as follows :
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Any independent staff are engaged at the market rate
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The estimate is the same as the appropriation in 1972. It will of course need to be adjusted if there is any change in the remuneration for this category or staff during the year, or if the total length of the Assembly sessions is altered.
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Travelling- expenses and allowances for travelling time for temporary staff engaged outside Strasbourg
The increase is due to higher fares and the higher daily rate of allowances for travelling time.
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Council of Europe's share (60%) in the sickness and accident insurance premiums of temporary staff remunerated under Sub-head 82.
No change.
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The estimate is to cover :
refunds to various national administrations of the salaries of staff seconded to the Council of Europe for special services during Assembly sessions and meetings of the Assembly and its organs : travelling expenses, subsistence allowances and insurance for such staff (radio-technicians, post-office technicians, police, firemen) ;
gratuities for special work done by lower-grade staff of national administrations in connection with meetings of Assembly organs elsewhere than in Strasbourg.
No change.
This head covers only expenditure on printing, publishing and the hire of cars. Other expenditure on supplies and services comes under the relevant sub-heads of Heads II and IV of Vote I.
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Publishing and printing costs relating to :
official Assembly documents
the distribution of certain texts adopted and of information supplied by national parliaments.
The increase is entirely due to the rise of some 5% in printing costs.
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Hire of cars for the Assembly and its organs.
No change. This estimate was increased in 1972 to meet the rise in hire charges since 1970.
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Representational, travelling and subsistence expenses incurred by the President of the Consultative Assembly in the course of his duties :
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The present estimate is 7 000 F higher than the appropriation in 1972. This is explained on the one hand by the decision of the Ministers' Deputies to authorise the President to travel first class by air and on the other by higher prices and their effect on representation expenses.
This figure will need to be adjusted if the rate of the daily allowances payable to members of the Assembly should be raised in the course of 1973. Higher fares would also have an effect on the appropriations required.
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Estimate increased by 8 000 F owing to the election of a new President. The factors making for this increase are as follows :
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This estimate is to cover :
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1. It is recalled that in Opinion No. 58 the Assembly had asked for 158 000F in all to cover representation expenses etc. (Sub-head 90), as well as its members' participation in the Multi-disciplinary Symposium on Drug Dependence held in Strasbourg in March 1972 (Sub-head 90 bis). Subsequently it was found possible to cut the appropriation entered under Sub-head 90 bis by 30 000 F by forming several sub-committees to participate in the symposium.
2. The higher estimate for 1973 in relation to 1972 is to be explained as follows :
These are higher because of higher prices.
The factors making for an increase mentioned in relation to Sub-head 90 above operate here likewise. In addition, in accordance with the principle stressed in its Opinion No. 58, the Assembly is asking for a special appropriation under Sub-head 92 to finance an Assembly delegation to an overseas country not a Member of the Council of Europe. The Assembly is anxious to emphasise the value for its activities of maintaining relations with the parliaments of countries not Members of the Council of Europe, and it accordingly attaches the greatest importance to the granting of this appropriation.
It is pointed out that Sub-head 90 bis covering the cost of participating in the Multidisciplinary Symposium on Drug Dependence no longer appears.
(c) This report disregards the effect of the activities of the forking Party on the future role of the Council of Europe set up by Order No. 327 of 1972. However, when the working party has drawn up its programmes and it becomes possible to calculate the cost of the operation, it may prove necessary to increase the appropriation for this item.
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Official travel by :
staff of the Office of the Clerk of the Assembly,
Secretariat staff required to attend meetings of Assembly organs at places other than Strasbourg or meetings with consultants.
The increase in the 1973 estimate is due to the higher fares and allowance rates.
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Travelling expenses, subsistence allowances and fees of experts asked to carry out technical work or called in for consultation by Assembly organs, either individually or in working parties. The estimate should also make it possible to provide administrative assistance to the working parties set up by the Committee on Science and Technology :
The 30 000 F increase is to be explained as follows :
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It has been found increasingly difficult to secure the services of experts because of the low fees offered and it is accordingly absolutely essential to raise the appropriation under this sub-head considerably.
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The Assembly plans the following conferences for 1973 :
5th Seminar on International Voluntary Service (Resolution 478(1971)) ;
Cultural Symposium organised by the Committee on Education and Culture (Resolution 463 (1970) ).Also to be charged to this sub-head is the expenditure relating to the follow-up to the Parliamentary and Scientific Conference held at Lausanne in 1972. It is planned to convene in Strasbourg :
the ad hoc Committee for the Parliamentary and Scientific Conferences (summer 1973) ;
a round table of scientists, industrialists, trade union officials and parliamentarians (autumn 1973).
In spite of increased allowance rates and prices, the Assembly is merely asking for die same appropriation as in 1972, feeling bound by the attitude it adopted at the meeting of die Joint Committee on 9 June 1971, at which it proposed that a fixed amount be voted each year for its programme of ad hoc conferences. For this year, the Assembly intends to make a special effort to keep its expenditure within the limits of the estimate of 100 000 F. However, it may possibly need to ask for an increase in the appropriation either next year or the year after, in the light of rising costs and fares.
Here the question also arises of the publication of the conclusions of the conferences immediately after they close. The Assembly hopes that in 1973 it will be possible to charge these publications to the appropriation for information (Head V, Vote I) without asking for any corresponding increase. However, the question could be re-examined in the context of the 1974 Budget in the light of experience.
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This estimate is to cover :
light refreshments for staff on night duty ;
the hire of loudspeakers for calling cars ;
night watchmen ;
reception and information services ;
miscellaneous and unforeseen expenditure.
No change.
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The Committee on Regional Planning and Local Authorities, responsible for awarding the Europe Prize, considers that its amount should be raised at least to 10 000 F, which explains the higher estimate under this sub-head, although the provision for expenses is kept down to 3 000 F.
2. The total estimates under Vote III for 1973 amount to 3 412 000 F, as against 3 305 000 F voted for 1972, which represents an increase of 107 000 F (3.24%).
3. This increase may be broken down as follows :
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4. However, to complete the picture, it must be remembered that the Assembly's operational expenditure includes not only the estimates in Vote III, but also certain expenditure entered under Vote I (Common expenditure) which is incurred in respect of the Assembly and its committees, such as salaries of staff of the Office of the Clerk, equipment and supplies, general services (workshops, interpretation, translation). As an indication of the total amount of the appropriations pertaining to the Assembly, if the expenditure for Assembly purposes entered under other votes is added to the amounts under Vote. Ill, we arrive, for 1972, at the following figures (including supplementary appropriations) :
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This represents about 14% of the General Budget for 1972.
The Standing Committee, when it met in Paris on 21 March 1972, discussed a document concerning the reception of visitors to the Council of Europe and instructed the Committee on the Budget to put forward proposals, when the Assembly's opinion on the 1973 Budget was being drawn up, for a considerable amount to be voted for this purpose, the intention being to make it possible to receive more visitors, particularly during Assembly sessions. The European Parliament has a large budget for this kind of action and its experience can be of help in assessing the cost of extended services for the reception of visitors.
It should however be noted that the European Parliament spreads its appropriation over eight sessions attended by six countries and that the travelling expenses entailed are not very high since, for this year still, at least, the member countries are situated more or less around Strasbourg.
The Council of Europe, with its seventeen member States, needs to bear in mind that visitors to Strasbourg will be coming from countries much further away.
In the light of these considerations the Assembly, at the proposal of the Committee on the Budget, considers that an additional 150 000 francs should be entered under Head V of Vote I. This figure is based on the estimates made by the departments concerned, namely the Office of the Clerk of the Assembly and the Directorate of Press and Information. In the 1972 Budget, an amount of 70 000 francs approximately was requested for the reception of groups of prizewinners under Sub-head 33 of this head. The amount requested by the Assembly should be added to the corresponding estimates for 1973. Subsequently the question could be reviewed in the light of experience when the 1974 Budget is being drawn up.
In a letter of 10 May 1972, the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers communicated to the President of the Assembly the draft Intergovernmental Work Programme of the Council of Europe for the years 1973 and 1974 (see Doc. 3120). In pursuance of Resolution 374 (1968), the Assembly has set up a special committee to examine the Programme, which will report to it at the October 1972 Session.
As regards the financial implications of the draft Work Programme, the Assembly regrets that the Committee of Ministers does not let it have, as well as the Programme, information about the cost of the various activities proposed. In his letter, the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers assures the President of the Assembly that the Committee of Ministers will give close attention to the Assembly's opinion on the Work Programme, particularly with regard to the selection of priority activities, and that it will decide on the definitive Programme for 1973 and 1974 in the light of that opinion and of essential Budget requirements.
The Assembly points out that in the absence of information about cost it is very difficult for the Assembly to express an opinion on priorities. In the Chairman's letter it is also stated that the Committee of Ministers considers that the growth rate of the 1973 Budget in relation to that for 1972 must be strictly limited.
The Assembly is greatly concerned at this attitude, which would slow down the expansion of the Council's activities at a time when, on the contrary, they should be developing, considering the importance that should be attached to them in the building of Europe. The Assembly calls attention in this context to the proposals concerning financial and budgetary methods contained in its opinion on the 1973-74 Intergovernmental Work Programme.
The Assembly has no special remarks to make.
1. The Council of Europe Budget for 1970, the last year for which the accounts have been closed and a discharge given, totalled 52 248 058 F, an increase of 15.8 % over the previous year (45 087 126 F).
The general accounts for 1970 show cancellations to the amount of 1 049 983 F, or 2% of the appropriations voted.
The Auditors have certified that the Budget was properly implemented and the appropriations rationally and economically managed. The Assembly takes note of the Auditors' findings.
2. With regard to 1971, since no discharge has yet been given in respect of the general accounts, the Assembly can only refer to the various resolutions of the Committee of Ministers adopting this Budget and subsequently authorising supplementary appropriations. The appropriations authorised by the Committee of Ministers totalled 61 809 190 F, representing an increase of 9.5 million in relation to 1970 (18.3%).
3. The initial Budget approved for 1972 is as follows (figures rounded off) :
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In relation to the amended General Budget for 1971, the initial General Budget for 1972 shows an increase of 8.71%. It should be noted that in Resolution (72) 24 the Committee of Ministers voted supplementary appropriations under the General Budget to an amount of 3 800 000 F as well as a supplementary appropriation of 72 000 F (Resolution (72) 25) under the Budget of the Pharmacopoeia.
4. Last year, in its Opinion No. 58, the Assembly urged that the Committee on the Budget be given the necessary information, set out as rationally as possible, to enable it to grasp fully the major options that presented themselves to the Organisation's budgetary policy. The Assembly's spokesman in the Joint Committee stressed how important it was to the Assembly, above all, to be fully informed about budget matters. The Assembly could not remain indifferent to certain of its activities or of the Organisation's activities being slowed down or abandoned altogether. For this reason, when the Committee of Ministers, in approving the Budget, cut certain estimates, the Assembly ought to be informed of the effects this would have on the work of the Organisation.
5. The Assembly is not seeking thereby to augment certain sections of the Budget unduly but simply to fulfil its advisory functions properly, so as to help to ensure that the means available are used as judiciously and profitably as possible.
6. For the growth of the Council of Europe Budget from year to year, the following table showing the totals of the Budgets from 1968 to 1972 is of interest.
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It can be seen that there has been an increase of 104.2% in five years. The reasons for the increase are twofold : on the one hand, the rise in prices and the cost of services resulting from inflation, and on the other, a certain expansion of the activities of the Organisation.
The years 1967 to 1971 saw a considerable increase in prices of all kinds as is confirmed both by the INSEE index and by Council of Europe administration statistics. It will suffice to give a few examples of special interest for the Assembly's services. From 1967 to 1971 the cost of the average freelance interpreter day rose by 114% and the pay of a typist by 45%. The Council's contributions to the Social Security scheme rose by 100%. To this can be added a general rise in fares of 50%, in telephone and postal charges of more than 60%, in printing workshop supplies of 45% etc. These are only examples but it can be seen chat the increase in the Organisation's Budget is to be explained for a large part (some 50%) by the rise in prices.
7. At a meeting held in London on 2 May 1972, the Committee on the Budget had occasion to discuss the factors making for Budget growth and to review the difficulties in the way of the expansion of the Council's activities. These latter have nevertheless continued to develop at a modest but constant rate in the last few years. There has been on the one hand the almost automatic expansion resulting from the application of international conventions, e.g. more cases pending before the Commission and Court of Human Rights, implementation of the Social Charter and of the Social Security Code etc. New activities are also embarked upon in pursuance of decisions of the Committee of Ministers. They are very often a follow-up to Assembly recommandations and resolutions. This is the case with certain activities entered in the Work Programme or occasional activities, such as conferences and symposia. New projects, like the launching of the European Youth Centre and the setting-up of the European Youth Foundation may also be mentioned. Nor must we forget the effect of decisions such as that to increase from two to four the number of languages used in the Assembly. We are bound to recognise that the organisation's work is expanding, whereas the means to carry it out are not being increased at the same rate.
8. When the Committee of Ministers states in its Chairman's letter communicating the Intergovernmental Work Programme (Doc. 3120) to the Assembly that the growth rate of the Council's Budget must be strictly limited, the Assembly is entitled to stress that this view is also advocated by the Committee on the Budget since it has always maintained that expenditure should be limited to the maximum extent compatible with safeguarding the activities necessary to extend the work of the Council of Europe. As has just been shown, numerous factors making for an increase in the Budget are unavoidable. Furthermore, when the financial implications of new activities are considered, they always appear quite considerable because the Budget of the Council of Europe is a very modest one. Little is needed to cause an appreciable percentage increase.
The Council's Budget has to be situated in its proper perspective. In 1972 it has scarcely exceeded 15 million dollars, For the whole population of the member States, this amount represents 20 French centimes per head. In spite of these modest means the organisation has nevertheless a certain number of achievements to its credit and it renders invaluable services to member States where European Co-operation is concerned. The Assembly accordingly reiterates forcefully how important it is to give the organisation adequate means to fulfil its statutory functions.
Here the Assembly wishes to stress particularly that the governments ought not to pretext the high cost of the new building to cut down the funds allocated to certain of the organisation's activities. It is unthinkable that the Council's work should not be able to go on expanding. Clearly the expenditure on the erection of the new building is a non-recurring capital investment and should therefore be disregarded when comparisons are made between Budgets for successive years.
| Estimate for 1973 | 1 782 000 |
| Appropriation in 1972Note |
| (Expenditure in 1971 | 1 565 203) |
| Category | Daily rate of pay | Number of working days | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engaged | ||||
| outside Strasbourg | locally | |||
| I. Session staff | ||||
| Parliamentary staff | ||||
| - Heads of section | 224, 50 | 134 | 36 046 | |
| - Parliamentary secretaries | 195 | 82 | 19 106 | |
| - Précis writers | 120 | 27 960 | ||
| - Verbatim reporters | 195 à 250 | 526 | 131 500 | |
| - Chief usher | 102 | 20 | 2 440 | |
| - Ushers | 90 | 272 | 29 376 | |
| II. Linguistic staff | ||||
| - Interpreters | 604,50 | 476,50 592 | 383 940 | |
| - Translation revisers | 326 | 225 | 400 | 156 000 |
| - Translators I | 280 | 179 | 1 215 | 396 090 |
| III. Assistants | ||||
| - Assistant I | 119, 50 | 64,50 | 61 | 8 723 |
| - Assistant IIA | 60,50 | 2 890 | 303 450 | |
| - Assistant IIB | 111,50 | 56,50 | ||
| - Assistant III | 105 | 50 | 38 | 2 280 |
| IV. Workshop staff | ||||
| - Duplicating machine operators and staplers | 41 | 655 | 32 095 | |
| - Assemblers | 35 | 993 | 41 706 | |
| -Distributors | 241 | 10 122 | ||
| V. Other staff | ||||
| - Précis-writers (Directorate of Information) | 224,50/195 | 80 | 21 440 | |
| - Doctor | 142 | 20 | 3 400 | |
| - Messengers/Ushers | 35 | 895 | 37 590 | |
| - Switchboard staff/drivers | 56,50/51 | 90 | 6 300 | |
| TOTAL | 1 649 564 | |||
| Rounded off to | 1649 000 |
| (b) Conference staff engaged for short periods for meetings between plenary sessions (interpreters, shorthand-typists, translators etc.) | 1 649 000 |
| 1. One 3-day meeting of the Standing Committee to be held in a European city other than Paris or Strasbourg (cf. Resolution 484 of the Assembly) | 43 000 |
| 2. Other committee meetings | 190 000 |
| ________ | |
| 1 882 000 | |
| Deduction (in the light of experience) | 100 000 |
| ________ | |
| Estimate for 1973 | 1 782 000 |
| Estimate for 1973 | 400 000 |
| Appropriation in 1972 | 380 000 |
| ______ | |
| Increase | 20 000 |
| (Expenditure in 1971 | 424 310) |
| Estimate for 1973 | 25 000 |
| Appropriation in 1972 | 25 000 |
| (Expenditure in 1971 | 19.812) |
| Estimate for 1973 | 70 000 | Appropriation in 1972 | 70 000 |
| (Expenditure in 1971 | 48 423) |
| Estimate for 1973 | 420 000 |
| Appropriation in 1972 | 400 000 |
| Increase | 20 000 |
| (Expenditure in 1971 | 436 027) |
| Estimate for 1973 | 13 000 |
| Appropriation in 1972 | 13 000 |
| (Expenditure in 1971 | 10 587) |
| Estimate for 1973 | 60 000 |
| Appropriation in 1972 | 53 000 |
| _____ | |
| Increase | 7 000 |
| (Expenditure in 1971 | 50 193) |
| (a) Fixed representational allowances | 39 000 |
| (b) Travel and subsistence | 21 000 |
| _____ | |
| 60 000 |
| Estimate for 1973 | 42 000 |
| Appropriation in 1972 | 34 000 |
| _____ | |
| Increase | 8 000 |
| (Expenditure in 1971 | 31 216) |
| (a) Special duties allowance | 7 000 |
| (b) Remuneration of a shorthand-typist and other secretarial expenses | 15 000 |
| (c) Official travel by Private Office staff | 20 000 |
| (d) Sundry secretarial expenses | token entry |
| Estimate for 1973 | 142 000 |
| Appropriation in 1972Note | 128 000 |
| _______ | |
| Increase | 14 000 |
| (Expenditure in 1971116 536) | 116 536) |
| (a) entertainment and similar expenses incurred by the Vice-Presidents of the Assembly and by committee Chairmen and Rapporteurs | 30 000 |
| (b) travelling expenses and subsistence allowances of members of the Assembly attending, on behalf of the Council of Europe meetings of certain Council organs apart from sessions of the Assembly and meetings of Assembly committees (Bureau of the Assembly, Joint Committee etc.) or travelling on instructions from the Assembly | 82 000 |
| (c) fixed allowance for the political groups to cover various items of expenditure - secretarial assistance, documentation and travel -incurred by members of die Assembly in the discharge of specific duties for the Council of Europe (Resolution (58) 4 of 27 March 1958) | 27 000 |
| (d) premium of the accident insurance taken out for members of the Assembly travelling officially at the Council's expense (Decision of the Committee of Ministers, 108th meeting, March 1962, Concl. (62) 108, Item V) | 3 000 |
| ______ | |
| 142 000 |
| Estimate for 1973 | 225 000 |
| Appropriation in 1972 | 220 000 |
| ______ | |
| Increase | 5 000 |
| (Expenditure in 1971 | 191 533) |
| Estimate for 1973 | 105 000 |
| Appropriation in 1972 | 75 000 |
| _______ | |
| Increase | 30 000 |
| (Expenditure in 1971 | 52 761) |
| 1. The appointment of consultants to enable the Assembly to fulfil its functions in regard to the supervision of the application of the Social Charter and the European Code of Social Security | 15 000 |
| 2. The fees of an expert called in to prepare the new edition of the booklet Procedure of the Consultative Assembly | 10 000 |
| 3. The adaptation and translation of reports written by experts in languages other than the official languages of the Council of Europe | 5 000 |
| Estimate for 1973 | 100 000 |
| Appropriation in 1972 | 100 000 |
| (Expenditure in 1971 | 114 866) |
| Estimate for 1973 | 15 000 |
| Appropriation in 1972 | 15 000 |
| (Expenditure in 1971 | 10 176) |
| Estimate for 1973 | 13 000 |
| Appropriation in 1972 | 10 000 |
| Increase | 3 000 |
| (Expenditure in 1971 | 8 657) |
| (a) Europe Prize | 10 000 |
| (b) Provision for expenses in connection with the presentation of the prize (travel and subsistence for the mayor of the prize-winning municipality, reception in his honour, diplomas and medals) | 3 000 |
| - Travelling expenses and allowances for travelling time (temporary staff) | + 20 000 |
| - Publishing and printing | + 20 000 |
| - Representational, travelling and subsistence expenses of the President of the Assembly | + 7 000 |
| - Expenditure pertaining to the Private Office of the President of the Assembly | + 8 000 |
| - Representational expenditure, other official expenditure and travelling expenses of members of the Consultative Assembly | + 14 000 |
| - Official journeys | + 5 000 |
| - Consultation of experts | + 30000 |
| - Europe Prize | + 3000 |
| _______ | |
| Total increases | 107 000 |
| - Vote III | 3 305 000 |
| - Remuneration of staff of the Office of the Clerk | 3 600 000 |
| - Assembly share of the general services | 2 600 000 |
| ________ | |
| 9 505 000 |
| - General Budget | 66 466 000 |
| - Partial Agreement in the Social and Public Health fields | 1 195 600 |
| - Partial Agreement on the Resettlement Fund for Refugees and Over-Population | 326 800 |
| - Partial Agreement on the Pharmacopoeia | 1 936 000 |
| Year | Amount in thousands of francs (amended Budget) | Percentage increase | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual | In relation to the 1967 Budget (34 902 000) | ||
| 1968 | 40 872 | 17.10 | 17.10 |
| 1969 | 45 036 | 10.18 | 29 |
| 1970 | 51 993 | 15.45 | 49 |
| 1971 | 61 138 | 17.58 | 75.2 |
| 1972 | 71 266 | 16.56 | 104.2 |