The proposal for the General State Budget (OGE) for 2018 was approved by the National Parliament in generality on the night of August 29, with 53 votes in favor, 12 abstentions and no votes against.
Parliament will now consider the budget in the specialty and will discuss and vote each article of the bill before the final global vote, due to take place on the 6th of September.
In the closing remarks of the three plenary debate days, Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak thanked the members of the National Parliament for “serious, constructive and committed participation during the general debate”, expressing “the strong will of the Eight Constitutional Government to continue to work with the National Parliament, in the specialty debate, in order to reach the necessary consensus so that the changes to be introduced can ensure better quality of the final version of the bill”.
During the debate in plenary, Parliament’s Committee C, which is responsible for examining public finances, presented its report. After the question and debate session of the issues raised, the Members presented amendments to the law.
Taur Matan Ruak also stressed the preparation of the proposal for a State Budget ” took place under relatively difficult conditions, taking into account the need to ensure that it was presented in the shortest possible time, a little over sixty days after taking office”, justifying this urgency “not only by the need to secure the financial and budgetary resources necessary for the good provision of public services, but also to restore, without further delay, confidence in our economy, especially in the private sector, more dependent on State investment or expenditure”.
The Prime Minister concluded by expressing his hope that the Government and the National Parliament could jointly “find the most appropriate and necessary solutions for the rapid recovery of the path of economic growth, the improvement of the living conditions of our people and of the sustainable development of our beloved homeland”.
To read the news regarding the beginning of the discussion of the OGE for 2018, click here.
To read the speech of the Prime Minister presenting the OGE, click here.
To read the speech of the Prime Minister closing the presentation of the OGE, click here.