Next year’s draft budget lands in Senate

KABUL or upper house of parliament.

According to MoF, the budget for next fiscal year has been increased by 21 billion afghanis compared to the ongoing year.

Finance Minister Eklil Hakimi, while presenting the draft to the upper house, said 287 billion afghanis had been set aside as general and 178 billion afghanis as development budget for the next year.

Afghanistan fiscal year begins on December 21. Hakimi said 150 billion afghanis or 32 percent of the budget came from domestic revenue and the rest from the international community in aid.

Currently 60 percent of the international community aid is spent through the government and the percentage may be increased the next year, he said.

The minister added security, infrastructure, education.

He said 36 percent of the budget would go to security, 21 percent to infrastructure and 13 percent to the education sector.

“Considering current financial limits, the budget for 1396 fiscal year is prepared in a way to fund general spending and keep continue development projects,” Hakimi said.

According to MoF, most of the budgetary units have spent less than 35 percent of their development budget during the outgoing fiscal year.

Few days back, the Wolesi Jirga or lower house of the parliament rejected the precise budget account for 1394 fiscal year and decided to summon or introduce to attorneys leaders of 40 budgetary units who spent less than 70 percent of their development budget.

However, Hakimi said the absence of detailed plans, low capacity of procurement sections, lack of a monitoring system, lack of punishment and award culture, administrative corruption and interference of powerful individuals were main problems in budget spending.

“In the next fiscal year, all budgetary units would be assessed for their spending after the first five months, if any of them was unable to spend their budget, their allocations would go to other departments,” he said.

He said revenue collected in 1394 reached 122 billion afghanis compared to 140 million afghanis this year with one and a half months remaining in the fiscal year.

The revenue collected in 1394 and 1395 fiscal years were more than the target, said the minister, who hoped the country’s economic growth would increase to 3.5 percent in the next fiscal year.

Senate chairman Fazl Hadi Muslimyar ordered the house financial and national economy commissions to assess the draft budget and present it to the house’s general session for approval.

Under Article 98 of the Constitution, the general and development budgets are prepared in light of Meshrano Jirga’s recommendations before being sent to the Wolesi Jirga for final approval.

mds/ma