Luanda, Nov. 15, 2024 (Lusa) - The Angolan parliament on Friday approved the first reading stage of the draft 2025 state budget bill with votes in favour from the ruling MPLA and the opposition PHA, and votes against from UNITA, the largest opposition party.
Unsurprisingly, the draft bill was approved with 112 votes in favour, from the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA, in power since 1975), and the Humanist Party of Angola (PHA), 63 votes against, from the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and three abstentions, from MPs from the Social Renewal Party (PRS) and the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA).
This instrument for Angola's macroeconomic management, which estimates revenue and sets expenditure at the same figure of 34.63 trillion kwanzas (around €35 billion), is now up for debate in the committee stage and is due to go to a final overall vote in the second half of December.
MPLA deputy Jorge Ribeiro Wefo said that his party supported the executive's legislative initiative because it believes that the document includes expenditure for the main programmes that contribute to the country's economic and social development.
"There are no budgets capable of meeting all needs. In this sense, approving the draft budget proposal is not only a sign and sense of commitment to the ultimate goals of the Angolan state, but also to realising the state's fundamental tasks," he explained in his explanation of vote.
The Humanist Party of Angola (PHA) voted in favour because, as its deputy Fernando Dinis pointed out, it believes that, despite a number of shortcomings, the proposal will merit a detailed analysis at the committee stage in order to improve it.
On the UNITA side, deputy Américo Chivukuvuku declared his vote against, considering that as it stands the budget "does not solve the problems that plague the country and the general public".
The UNITA deputies said that "unfortunately the 2025 state budget won't improve the lives of families, it won't solve the problem of poverty that plagues 17 million citizens or the problem of hunger that plagues 13 million people".
Rui Malopa Miguel, a PRS MP, justified the Renovadores' choice of vote by saying that the discussion and vote on the budget took place at a time when the country and Angolans are experiencing a "very worrying" socio-economic situation.
"After 49 years of independence, we still haven't come up with coherent and realistic measures that give families some hope for survival," he said, justifying his abstention.
The 2025 draft state budget proposal already includes funds for the three new Angolan provinces, resulting from the new administrative division of the country, and provides for a high debt service that will absorb almost 50% of budget expenditure, totalling 16.5 trillion kwanzas (around €17 billion), with 12.45 trillion kwanzas earmarked for debt repayment.
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