Finance Minister Bob Richards insisted this week that recently released budget figures are indications for optimism about the economy — even if revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2013 are showing less than $300,000 increase over the same period last year.“We're seeing small signs of turnaround in economic growth,” Mr Richards told The Royal Gazette.“I don't believe that economic growth for the whole year is going to be enough to show a GDP growth but I do believe that these are the leading signs that you can see in an economy that is arresting its contraction.”He said the fact that Government revenues are marginally above the same period last year should be noted.“I want the people of Bermuda to understand that we are making progress,” he said.“Government revenue has been declining for four years. In the first quarter of this year with no increase in taxes, Government revenue has been greater than last year.”That, he said, is an indicator that the economy is strengthening since Government coffers depend on the strength of the economy.Customs duties collected for the quarter ending June 30 totalled $46,468,000 but totalled $43,442,000 in the same period last year.“It's a small indicator that the contraction is coming to an end. That's why its significant,” Mr Richards said.He said: “If your car's been in reverse for four years, just to stop that reverse is progress.”Payroll tax receipts also saw a marginal increase — from $94,732,000 last year to $96,024,000 this year.But the strongly profitable aircraft registration business saw a decline in revenue of about $600,000.Government collected $283,000 more overall in the first quarter of this year than last year.“But look at the context of that,” Mr Richards said. “It's the context of four consecutive years of economic decline. We've had international business formations the highest they've been since 2006. That is significant.”He agreed that the thousands of unemployed Bermudians would not be celebrating. But he insisted that positive things were happening.“I'm saying the long contraction is ending. The nightmare is almost over. That's what I'm saying.”The Economist Intelligence Unit has also been doing its own analysis of Bermuda's economy (see story in Business).It notes that the number of new company formations in Bermuda for the first six months of the year has been the strongest in five years.But it cautions that “many of the new international companies being formed are investment holding companies, which contribute little to the local economy in terms of employment or government revenue.”