By their calculations less than
7 percent of the income from the sale of hydrocarbon fuels (c. $4-5
billion annually) make it to the national budget.
Slush funds infect every corner of the globe, not only the more
obscure and venal ones. Every secret service - from the Mossad to
the CIA - operates outside the stated state budget. Slush funds are
used to launder money, shower cronies with patronage, and bribe
decision makers. In some countries, setting them up is a criminal
offense, as per the 1990 Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure,
and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime. Other jurisdictions are
more forgiving.
The Catholic Bishops Conference of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon
Islands issued a press release November last in which it welcomed
the government's plans to abolish slush funds. They described the
poisonous effect of this practice:
"With a few notable exceptions, the practice of directing funds
through politicians to district projects has been disastrous. It has
created an atmosphere in which corruption is thought to have
flourished. It has reduced the responsibility of public servants,
without reducing their numbers or costs. It has been used to confuse
people into believing public funds are the "property" of individual
members rather than the property of the people, honestly and fairly
administered by the servants of the people.
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