The Ministry of Finance was criticized by members of the parliament for the delay in sending the draft of the mid-year budget to the house to be reviewed by MPs.
Based on the law, the national budget is approved by parliament at the beginning of the fiscal year and then after the completion of six months, the Finance Ministry reviews the budget and projects across the country and adds a new amount to it based on needs.
The mid-year budget should be approved by the Wolesi Jirga, the Lower House of Parliament, same as the national budget.
The deputy of the Wolesi Jirga Secretariat, Rahimullah Ghalib, said the draft of the mid-year budget landed in the house on Saturday, July 20, with a one-month delay while the MPs will begin their summer recess on Tuesday, July 22.
“The document arrived here today [Saturday] and tomorrow [Sunday] we will refer to the leadership committee and it will be discussed there and it is possible it may take some days to be reviewed,” Ghalib said.
“No one cares about the parliament’s approval,” said Ramazan Bashardost, an MP from Kabul. “The Ministry of Finance and other ministries are not paying attention for implementation of the bills which are approved by the parliament.”
The Ministry of Finance has not revealed details of the amendments in the mid-year budget.
“Some amendments have happened in the [mid-year] budget and also some new budgetary units have been added to the national budget,” said Shamroz Khan, a spokesman for Ministry of Finance.
The Finance Ministry has allocated AFN399 billion ($4.98 billion) for the 1398 fiscal year’s budget, 69 percent of which has been allocated for the standard budget while the remaining 39 percent has been allocated for the development budget.
According to the ministry, from the AFN399 billion, AFN 275 billion ($3.4 billion) will be allocated to the standard budget and the remainder will be put aside for the development budget.
