Legislation was passed last night to allow Government to resume payments into the sinking fund once again.

Last year, Government postponed its annual contribution to the fund, which was established in 1993 for the purposes of paying off long-term debt.

And it drew $20 million from the fund in order to meet interest payments on Government long-term debts.

However, the situation was amended last night with an order passed by the House of Assembly.

Finance Minister Paula Cox announced in her budget on Friday that this year, Government will pay $28 million into the sinking fund $10 million in respect to 2009/10 and a further $18 million as the 2010/1 contribution.

That will leave the fund with a balance of $82 million. The order facilitated this.

Ms Cox noted for the record that last year was not the first time the annual sinking fund contribution was not made in the year that it was due. No contributions were made to the fund from 1994 to 1997. The matter was rectified in 1998 when $12.3 million was paid into the fund.

The order was passed with the backing of the Opposition. Shadow Finance Minister E.T (Bob) Richards commented: "We are glad to see this regularised and hope this is a one-off."