Africa-Press – Angola. The proposal for drawing up the 2024 State General Budget Instruction provides for the elimination of the renewal of State protocol fleets, as well as the acquisition or rental of properties for residential purposes in Angola or abroad, within the framework of cost reduction.
The measure was advanced this Wednesday by the Minister of Finance, Vera Daves, who did not provide further details on this matter.
Vera Daves was speaking to the press at the end of the meeting of the Council of Ministers, which took place under the guidance of the President of the Republic, João Lourenço.
Among other planned measures, it is recommended that public bodies guarantee or purchase local goods and services, thus prohibiting the importation of goods clearly available on the national market, within the scope of measures to stimulate the economy.
“Public bodies and public companies should be the first to set an example in what is the acquisition of locally produced services and goods”, appealed the Minister of Finance.
The proposals, according to Vera Daves, are in line with what has been proposed, despite some changes to the 2023 instructions.
Among other planned innovations, there are changes in the establishment of principles and rules observed in the process of preparing a medium-term expenditure framework, which is a novelty in the instructions.
“We have been looking at expenses in an annual logic and we want to start looking at a multiannual logic to also organize ourselves financially in mobilizing the necessary revenues to finance these expenses that are identified and established in a multiannual logic”, he advanced.
Priority for unfinished projects
Another novelty, he added, is related to the prioritization of budget execution measures.
According to the head of Finance, in previous editions slight references were made, but this time, a firmer reference is considered, which prioritizes the completion of projects started in previous years.
“What we have noticed is the tendency to continuously start new projects, leaving behind projects that were started and that last in time without the works being concluded or finished”, he admitted.
For these cases, Vera Daves says that there is this express work indication of prioritizing the execution and completion of projects that have already started, which will require the mobilization of financial resources.
Still based on the instructions provided for in the OGE 2024, it is also foreseen the recommendation of projects and initiatives that contribute to food security, within the scope of the comprehensive agenda of economic diversification.
With this, the Executive wants to give a very particular “emphasis” to food security and guarantee the mobilization in terms of identifying resources and putting energy into projects that bring food self-sufficiency in Angola, with a positive impact for citizens.
The document, which will be submitted to the National Assembly, also establishes the principle of handing over the management and execution of small and medium-sized projects to provincial governments and municipal administrations.
“There is a set of projects that are allocated to the bodies of the State’s Central Administration that we understand that it makes more sense to be allocated to local bodies to concentrate more energy and ensure that these projects are carried out”, he observed.
In this Wednesday’s session, the Council of Ministers considered the proposal for a law that amends the Value Added Tax Code (VAT), a diploma that will be submitted to the National Assembly for debate and approval.
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