He pointed out that the Secretary General had earlier in the week described drawing up the budget as "a challenging exercise". He stated that the budget had come at a time when many parliaments were instituting austerity measures to help to reduce national deficits. It also came at a time of developmental challenges, natural disasters, conflicts and epidemics in many parts of the world. In these states, parliaments had to divert resources firstly to meet the basic needs of the people they represented.