Government meets with National Parliament Committees to begin public hearings on the 2024 General State Budget
Today, November 30th, 2023, a cycle of public hearings promoted by the National Parliament's Specialised Standing Committees began in the National Parliament, dedicated to the initial appraisal of the 2024 General State Budget law proposal. These public hearings will run until December 5th.
During this period, the Committees will receive Government members, the Presidency of the Republic, and Public Administration Leaders to debate and clarify the sectoral budgets for the 2024 financial year.
The report and opinion will then be prepared for the Plenary Session to discuss the 2024 State Budget Law Proposal, which will begin with the discussion and vote in general terms on December 12th and 13th. The detailed discussion and vote and the final overall vote will occur between December 14th and 20th. The final draft will be sent to the President of the Republic by December 22nd, 2023. 
The 2024 General State Budget Law Proposal presents a total consolidated figure of US$ 1.95 billion for the Central Administration, the Special Administrative Region of Oe-Cússe Ambeno (RAEOA) and Social Security, not including the Social Security Reserve Fund. This amount includes an allocation of US$ 1.83 billion for the central administration and US$ 60 million for the RAEOA.
The Government submitted the 2024 General State Budget draft Law Proposal to the President of the National Parliament, Maria Fernanda Lay, on November 23rd, 2023, with a request for urgent consideration of the proposal, given that "appreciation of the budget proposal without urgency would prevent the conclusion of the legislative process before the end of this year, which would imply the extension of the validity of the 2023 General State Budget Law to 2024 and the consequent application of the duodecimal regime".
The Prime Minister, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, in his letter to the President of the National Parliament, sent together with the Law Proposal, stressed that the 2024 State Budget "has at its genesis the strategic objectives defined in the 9th Constitutional Government's Programme" and "lays the foundations for achieving the central objectives outlined for the next five years, defining as priorities public investment in fundamental infrastructures and economic growth as the central and fundamental driver of national development".
