Africa-Press – Angola. The Benguela Finance delegate, Carlos Jorge Hapapa, said that, at provincial level, the municipalities of Benguela and Lobito are the ones that collect the most revenue, which has been contributing to the resolution of various local problems.
In an interview, the manager said that, contrary to other municipalities, where “economic activity is relatively very low and somehow does not allow to raise much”, Benguela and Lobito stand out.
The sector has been working with municipal administrations to find the best ways to boost the economy at local level, taking advantage of the budget that is allocated to municipalities, both in the fight against poverty and within the scope of the Integrated Plan of Intervention in Municipalities , (PIIM), as well as “in the regular budget”.
This measure, he pointed out, serves to ensure that the benefits of these budgets are reflected at the local level, creating jobs, as well as “attracting investments to municipalities, so that the local economy can flourish and, in some way, the administration itself benefits from the collection of revenues and respond to the most varied challenges that the municipality has”.
The financial deconcentration and decentralization process of the State’s local administration bodies, a new local finance regime, is also one of the measures taken to increase collection levels, and the project relies on two instruments, namely, the Portal do Munícipe and the Integrated Financial Management System of the State.
Carlos Jorge Hapapa pointed out that the Citizen’s Portal is an electronic platform that allows administrations to collect their own revenue, in order to solve various problems, in addition to the resources that are allocated via the General State Budget.
He added that municipal administrations “can now collect their own revenues, which are returned in 100 percent, and the return occurs in less than 24 hours”.
With this mechanism, “there is no bureaucracy, contrary to the execution of resources from the Treasury, where sometimes there is that delay in the approval of withdrawal orders”. In this sense, Municipal Administrations have been improving their performance in collection.
Currently, the revenues from the Property Tax and the IVM (Tax on Motor Vehicles) are from the municipal administrations.
In addition to the Port of Lobito, the General Tax Administration (which collects through the tax offices), the bodies of the State’s Local Administration have been participating in the revenue collection process, “for this reason, we believe that the 2022 financial year , when we take stock, it will present results greater than those seen in previous years”.
Regarding awareness of paying taxes by taxpayers, Carlos Jorge Hapapa said that the tax culture “is relatively very low”, but the AGT has been working to reverse the situation.
economic activity
Given its strategic position, Benguela occupies an important place in the country, which is why it is an important axis for the socio-economic development of Angola. For Carlos Jorge Hapapa, revenue collection depends on economic dynamics. “Because revenue affects income and economic activity. The greater the economic activity, the greater the collection capacity”, he said, after stressing that Benguela has the Port of Lobito, which is the main “source that gives some economic life to the province. And in this sense, it has contributed to a good collection, which is done progressively”.
Entrepreneurs need government support
The contribution of companies at provincial level is considered positive, despite recognizing that there are still some constraints in the business environment.
“The business environment is still not very healthy, but the Executive is working in this direction. If we look at the OGE’s reasoning report for the 2023 financial year, continuous improvement of the business environment is expected. Therefore, our business community it is the one that also needs the support of the State”, he pointed out.
As for competitiveness with the international market, the Benguela provincial finance delegate stressed that there is a need to invest in protecting national production.
“It is necessary to pay special attention to our business community, because they are the ones who make the economy, generate jobs and pay taxes to sustain public finances and State expenses”, he said, after pointing out that what attracts businessmen to province are the economic infrastructures.
“We want more roads with quality, water, energy, in short, I think that once these conditions are created, there will surely be more economic life and the government is giving these indicators”, he pointed out.
budget obligations
The budget approved for the province of Benguela, for the 2022 financial year, was 18 billion kwanzas, against 14 billion for the 2021 financial year.
Despite the fact that resources are “always scarce” to meet needs, Carlos Jorge Hapapa considers that last year was a better year compared to 2020/2021.
“We had relative stability, so to speak, financially, as the price of oil improved considerably on the international market, and that, in a way, benefited the country”, he recalled.
Benguela has everything
The potential that the province has favors the success of economic activity.
“It has a railway, sea, a good climate, agriculture and much more. Benguela has everything to work out. It just needs us. In fact, a thinker once said, man is the right measure for all things”, underlined, before showing hope of the positive result with the implementation of public policies for the 2023 financial year.
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