A parliamentary report criticizing the delay in presenting the “2022 budget” to the parliament

Al-Watani: The government made good use of the cash reserve to support expenditures

The NBK adopted a general plan when studying “linking the general budget for the fiscal year 2022” to identify social priorities.

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A parliamentary report recently adopted by the Federal National Council praised the government’s “good use” of the cash reserve, to support expenditures in the draft federal law to link the general budget of the Federation for the fiscal year 2022, which was approved by the Council the day before yesterday, stressing that the Council of Ministers was able to reduce the difference between Expenses and revenues through a set of effective procedures and means, while criticizing the delay of the Ministry of Finance in presenting the draft law to the parliament on the constitutionally set date.

In detail, a report issued by the Financial, Economic and Industrial Affairs Committee of the Federal National Council stated that the committee adopted a general plan when studying the draft federal law on linking the general budget of the Federation for the fiscal year 2022, which was based on an inventory of social priorities and the extent to which they are included in the draft general budget of the Federation, and the extent to which estimates are achieved. He pointed out that the committee noted the receipt of the draft law, including a deficit of two billion and 224 million dirhams.

During its second session of the third ordinary session of the 17th legislative term, which was held last week, the Council approved a federal draft law on linking the general budget of the Federation for the fiscal year 2022, with total revenues of 56 billion and 707 million dirhams, compared to expenditures estimated at 58 billion and 931 million dirhams. .

The report confirmed that the deficit of 2.2 billion dirhams included in the budget imposed on the committee to adopt a method in its study of the draft law, based on three axes, the first of which is related to the extent to which the budget is compatible with the constitutional and legal obligations. 132) of the constitution, the budget agrees with the principle of annual budget, as it will be valid for a year starting on January 1, 2022 and ending in December 2022, as well as guaranteeing the budget to estimate revenues and expenditures in general, in addition to issuing the general budget by law, and allocating the budget amounts of revenue for spending On construction and reconstruction projects, internal security and social affairs, criticizing the delay in the draft budget law’s arrival beyond the constitutional deadline stipulated in Article 129 of the constitution, which is at least two months before the start of the fiscal year, the draft law on November 2, 2021.

According to the report, the second axis of the study of the draft law relied on the extent to which the budget was approved, and it included a deficit, and the efficacy of the means decided by the draft law to cover this deficit in order to determine the constitutionality and legality of the draft budget if it included a funding deficit, noting that the committee assigned the General Secretariat to study The constitutionality of that, in addition to conducting an analytical study (legal and financial) to determine the extent of the ability of the means specified by the draft law to finance the difference between expenditures and revenues.

And he said:“After the committee reviewed the studies presented and the legislation in force and some accounting circulars, the committee ended up accepting the draft budget law as reported by the government for several justifications, the most important of which is that Article (12) of the Federal Decree-Law No. (26) of 2019 in the matter of public finance, states The (general budget) is the financial program of the federal entities, which includes all their financial resources estimated to be collected and the public expenditures estimated to be disbursed for a particular fiscal year, in order to achieve the development, social, economic, and economical framework of the federal entities expected in terms of resources. During the next fiscal year, taking into account its balance of revenue and expenditure, and its development in light of the medium-term financial strategy (financial framework), stressing that the committee considered that the aforementioned Article 12 does not require the balance of the general budget with revenue.And an expense, but it emphasizes taking into account its balance only, and therefore the budget may not be balanced in revenue and expenditure, and therefore it may be accepted.

He pointed out that the main function of the government's cash reserve is to support the annual budget, and the amount of this reserve is determined according to a mechanism prepared by the Ministry of Finance after being approved by the Council of Ministers, stressing that the committee valued what it described as "the optimal use of cash for the government to support the reserve's revenues."

The report said: “The committee considered that reducing the difference between expenditures and revenues through a set of measures taken by the Council of Ministers is one of the effective means, because it possesses all the executive and oversight tools that are constitutionally and legally empowered to it, enabling it to take the necessary measures to control the implementation of the budget.”

The report moved to the third and final axis of the study of the draft federal law on linking the general budget of the Federation for the fiscal year 2022, which was concerned with the extent of the impact of the difference between expenditures and revenues on services and benefits provided to citizens, explaining that the committee conducted a comparison between the 2022 budget estimated for ministries and federal entities allocated for services and benefits. Provided to citizens with the estimated budgets for the previous years, it became clear that the estimated budgets were not affected by any of the services and benefits.

Handling the funding difference

The parliamentary report stated that the most prominent justifications for the approval of the Financial, Economic and Industrial Affairs Committee of the Federal National Council, the draft federal law regarding linking the general budget of the Federation for the fiscal year 2022, as stated by the government, is represented in the committee studying the means identified by the draft law to cover the difference between expenditures and revenues, as The first article of the draft law stipulates that the expected funding difference to maintain the balance of the general budget of the Union with the draft of the fiscal year 2022 shall be dealt with through any or all of the following: using part of the government’s cash reserve account, issuing public debt instruments, and controlling public budget expenditures through the procedures that approved by the ministers.He explained that after the study, the committee concluded that the means specified by the bill were effective in financing the difference between expenditures and revenues, because Decree-Law No. 26 of 2019 on public finance organized the rules and controls of the government’s cash reserve, which is an account that is financed from the actual cash surplus available. After deducting all obligations and guarantees expected to be paid during the following fiscal year, it is subject to the supervision and management of the Ministry of Finance.

• The deficit of 2.2 billion dirhams included in the budget was imposed on the committee to adopt a method in its study of the draft law.

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