A Niue MP says the government's latest budget shows people are living beyond their means.
Terry Coe says the island has a cash flow problem because of a huge deficit from last year and this year.
The premier, Toke Talagi, says the current 15-million US dollar budget should ensure public servants are paid and that locals enjoy education and health facilities as well as power, water and telecommunications.
He says the budget should also reassure people the government knows what it's doing.
Mr Coe says the government has bigger problems than it is admitting.
"New Zealand has cut off eight hundred thousand and that's why they're saying 'oh we've got an eight hundred thousand dollar deficit this year'. But we also had it in the last financial year, about the same amount. Is this budget going to blow out even further to perhaps over a million dollars? And that's big money when you're talking about a cash flow problem."
The Niue MP, Terry Coe.