THE Northern Province government hoped to reduce its 1999/2000 debt to R400-million from R680-million in 1998/1999, finance MEC Thaba Mufamadi said on Wednesday. The province also planned to cut down on its present wage costs Mufamadi said while tabling budget proposals in the legislature in Pietersburg. The budget of R11,9-billion was 5,9% higher than the figure for the past financial year. Education, health and welfare were allocated more than 80% (R9,6-billion) of the take. Only R278-million of the budget will be generated from the province’s own income sources.