THE State Budget 2005 may hold the record of being the fastest to be revised. Passed into law at the end of last September, it reaped criticisms for not using realistic assumptions. The most controversial assumption is the oil price.

Although the budget was prepared when the oil price was stratospheric (Brent crude oil above US$40 per barrel, light sweet above US$50 per barrel), the (previous) government insisted on using an oil assumption