This morning, August 15th, 2018, the Permanent Specialized Committees of the National Parliament began a process of public hearings on the execution of the General State Budget (OGE) for 2017 and an initial assessment of the Draft Law on the Budget for 2018. Public hearings take place until August 21. During this period, the Commissions will hear members of the Government, the Presidency of the Republic, Directors of Public Administration and representatives of civil society.

At the first public hearings, the Members of Committee A – Committee on Constitutional Affairs and Justice – received the Minister of State and the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the Minister for Legislative Reform and Parliamentary Affairs, the Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister, the Inspector General of the State, the Director of the National Center Chega! and the Director of the Timorese Resistance Museum Archive, to discuss and clarify their budgets for the financial year 2018.

On 22 August, the Commissions will deliver the report and sectoral submission to Commission C (Committee on Economy, Finance and Anti-Corruption), which deals with Public Finance matters, and which will prepare the report and submission to be delivered at the Plenary Session for the discussion of the Draft Law on the Budget for 2018.

The OGE Proposal was delivered on August 7, 2018 to the National Parliament by the Minister of Legislative Reform and Parliamentary Affairs, Fidélis Manuel Leite Magalhães, accompanied by the Deputy Minister of Finance, Sara Lobo Brites.