Opposition Senate Leader Michael Dunkley yesterday said poor fiscal management was behind the Island's deepening debt.

And he slammed Government for overspending public funds and increasing the debt ceiling.

"It is my opinion, as I said last year and the year before, Government's multi-year spending spree and mismanagement of the public purse has made Bermuda vulnerable, especially in light of the current economic situation," he said.

Sen. Dunkley also said Government is sending Bermuda on a road to ruin, not a road to recovery as was implied by the title of the 2010/11 Budget.

"This Government did not see this very dark cloud and did not curb or control their spending to help prepare and weather the storm. This is a fact.

"Then in last year's Budget the Minister of Finance said that they 'had a recovery plan, Bermuda style'. Clearly we have seen no recovery plan of any style, just spin. And I doubt there will be much of one this year."

Speaking on Government raising the debt ceiling to $1.25 billion, Sen. Dunkley said: "What is the point in having a debt ceiling when all you do is raise it when you feel its pressure? By raising the debt ceiling twice in the past two years, the Government is making a mockery of the limits and discipline implicit in the point of a debt ceiling."

Independent Senator Walwyn Hughes echoed Mr. Dunkley's statements.

"We have always had a long-standing policy of borrowing to do capital works. If you were adding to the infrastructure, it was appropriate to borrow and pay over time. In the early 1990s, debt was increased. Then it was deemed appropriate to set up a sinking fund.

"Unfortunately, as debt us increased and quadrupled, I think the sinking fund theory has been overwhelmed. With increases of $150 million a year, the whole concept shows weakness.

"You will have to put so much into the sinking fund from your budget each year you will have to borrow to put into the fund. There has to be something done about debt. How we're going to do that, there's no indication in this Budget or the past budgets of how we're going to do that. Something has to happen."

Earlier, PLP Sen. Kim Wilson gave a Budget overview.

"As we travel down the road to recovery, it may well be slow but we as Bermudians will have to buckle our seat belts," she said.

"As we travel down the byways of financial uncertainty, we must be ready for a bumpy road. It's important to note and rest assure that we are none the less on the road to recovery."