Parliament Approves 1999 Budget [Archives:1998/49/Front Page]

The House of Deputies approved the 1999 budget on Saturday, December 5th. But the session, which was characterized by heated debate leading to the withdrawal of all opposition members – including the Islah, did not stop the approval. The ruling People’s General Congress had sufficient votes to push the budget through.

The parliamentary committee to review the budget proposal presented a report which was full of criticism. It lamented the lack of vision and less than serious efforts to present a real budget. The report pointed to many contradictions in the numbers of the budget on different pages.
The 1999 budget envisages total revenues to be YR 294.4 billion, while authorized total expenditures stood at YR 335.6 billion, of which recurrent expenditures (nearly half of which is payroll) represents 77% of the total.
Finally, the report indicated that the government routinely neglects to honor the commitments it makes when it approaches the House to get approval of the budget.
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