Government facilitates open Budget Process
Minister of State and of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and
Official Spokesperson for the Government of Timor-Leste
Dili, November 11th, 2016
Government facilitates open Budget Process
The Government has participated in a seminar on “Budgetary Overview 2017” organized by the Public Finance Committee of the National Parliament. The Government, as a part of its commitment to a transparent budget process, was pleased to participate and provided detailed contributions from the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Strategic Planning and Investment.
The seminar aimed to gather the contributions of the different sectors of society regarding the proposed General State Budget 2017, which the Government submitted to National Parliament on the 13th of October. Participants in the Seminar at the Hotel Tusimo in Dili on the 10th and 11th of November included members of Government and National Parliament, NGOs, Development Partners, and representatives of the Judiciary and Central Bank. Inputs from the Seminar presentations and debates are expected to feed into the reports and opinions of the Permanent Specialized Committees that will in turn serve as a basis for the discussion of the Budget in National Parliament.
Total proposed spending in the General State Budget 2017 is $1.386 billion, a reduction on allocated spending for 2016. In its Budget Description and Analysis the Government notes its commitment “to ensuring a prudent level of spending by maintaining the overall size of the budget and reviewing existing programs to ensure maximum returns on every dollar spent.”
A comprehensive set of Draft Budget Books are available to the public for download at the home page of the Ministry of Finance website.
The draft law N.47/III (5th) – The General State Budget for 2017 – will be discussed by the National Parliament on the 22nd of November 2016 and will be voted on in its general terms within three days. Following the vote in general terms there will be discussion and voting on each individual section beginning on the 25th of November, a process which can continue for a maximum of ten days.
Then, after the examination of each individual section of the articles of the draft law, a final overall vote on the text of the draft law with its approved amendments will conducted on the floor of National Parliament. Once this is completed the final document – the General State Budget Law for 2017 – will be sent to the President of the Republic for promulgation. ENDS
