Ministry of Finance meets with the Permanent Specialized Committees for initial appreciation to the 2018 Budget
The Acting Minister of Finance, Sara Lobo Brites, met on 17 August 2018 in the plenary with the Permanent Specialized Committees at a meeting chaired by Commission C - Committee on Economy, Finance and Anti-Corruption - in the public hearings organized by the Parliamentary Committees for analysis to Draft Law of the General State Budget (OGE) for 2018.
The Acting Minister of Finance was accompanied in the public hearings by the technical team of General Finance Department and the Coordinator of the Fiscal Reform Commission, Fernanda Borges.
Sara Lobo Brites presented to Members of Parliament detailed information on the OGE for the period from January 1 to December 31, 2018, with a total of US $ 1,279.6 million, which includes all revenues and expenses of the State and Social Security of Timor-Leste.
The Acting Finance Minister responded to Members' requests for clarification and stressed that the Government's priorities for the 2016 Budget are to ensure the functioning of the state machine, the payment of wages and salaries, and State obligations that cannot be resolved in a duodecimal regime.
The General State Budget for 2018 shows a reduction of 9.5% compared to the 2017 Budget and will restore normality to budget execution and allow priorities needs to be met, favoring the recovery of economic growth, for the installation of the VIII Government and for laying the foundations for the implementation of the governance program.
Fernanda Borges presented the activities of the Commission for Fiscal Reform and highlighted the commitment in the Government's Program of diversification of the economy, reinforcement of the productive sectors that aim at economic growth, reduction of expenses and increase of revenues, allowing to reduce the dependency on the petroleum fund and use that money in the development of the country. In this sense, the tax reform program is fundamental, to create a simple, modern and efficient tax and customs administration that will allow the Government to create alternative sources of internal revenue to pay for the running costs of the government and the country.
On 22 August, the Commissions will deliver their reports and opinions to Committee C, which will prepare the final report to be discussed in plenary.
