The Opposition Progressive Labour Party has criticised the new Budget as a boon for non-Bermudians and employers while imposing hardship on “everyday Bermudians and seniors”.“The OBA’s plan to increase the cost of bus passes and increase vehicle licensing fees for all Bermudians while leaving Bermudian employees out of the payroll tax holiday is symptomatic of a government that believes Bermudians must bear the burden while their corporate supporters reap the benefits; all this with no guarantee that job opportunities will trickle down to Bermudians,” reads a statement from the PLP.“The Budget’s proposed tax breaks for PRC holders while the OBA cuts Government Scholarships, Mature Student Awards and Further Education Awards shows that this government’s priorities are in the wrong place.“Today’s Budget lacked bold action, where bold action is needed. Today’s Budget lacked relief for Bermudians, where relief is needed.“Today’s Budget lacked vision, when vision is needed. Next week, the Country will hear our party’s view of what a budget for today’s times should look like. We will present a vision for the future of this country’s finances that puts the interests of Bermudians first.”Immediately after the Budget Statement was read, Shadow Finance Minister David Burt struck similar themes. “It is a good day for non-Bermudians, it’s a good day for PRC holders who want to purchase land in Bermuda. It’s a good day for large business owners and I would say it’s a bad day for seniors and the regular working Bermudian,” he told this newspaper.“Time will tell. I really expected something a lot more bold given all the bluster that the One Bermuda Alliance had before the election.“But today we had a lot of blaming things not just on the past Government, but on the global recession, whereas before there was a lot of talk about things not related to the global recession.”Mr Burt added that the PLP wanted to be able to support the Budget because “the economic challenge that faces this Country should not be subject to partisan bickering” but the Budget lacked vision.“The public will hear our view for the future next week, and we will put forward bold and we will put forward innovative, because we cannot continue doing business the way that we have been doing business in the past.”Asked if he agreed that the Budget was realistic, he said: “The fact is that the excuse of not knowing about the situation before the election is ridiculous.“They put forward the fact that they were going to be able to reduce spending and today we see a spending increase. They talked about reducing the budget deficit, today we see one of the largest deficits projected in this Country’s history.“They can say it’s realistic all they want. The fact of the matter is the Bermudian people will judge them on the promises which they make to the people of this Country and we will hold them to account as the Opposition.”Increasing the debt ceiling by $1 billion was unnecessary, insisted Shadow Finance Minister Wayne Furbert.He noted that staffing levels increased by two percent, professional services which includes spending on consultants also saw a modest increase in its budget.Mr Furbert added that the debt ceiling increase had “stunned” him.“I believe that if we were in government this year we would not have to increase the debt ceiling in the way they are talking about,” he said.“In fact we had a mandate to decrease all the Government departments by at least ten percent. So I’m sad to see the debt ceiling increased by a billion dollars.“Can you imagine if we had increased the debt ceiling by a billion dollars, this country would have gone crazy particularly in certain areas in the business community.“If they don’t plan to spend it, why are they increasing it?”Mr Furbert said Mr Richards could have focused instead on getting more revenue and cutting unfilled positions within the civil service.Mr Richards scoffed at the Opposition’s criticism that his budget was geared more to businesses than average Bermudians.“That is perhaps a predictable response. I guess I cannot repeat it enough so I will repeat it again. It takes an employer to create a job,” he said.“This Government is about creating jobs for Bermudians. We’re focused on that. We’re not focused on class struggle or have or have nots and all that sort of stuff.”