The document, which was approved this Tuesday with 185 votes in favour, none against and six abstentions, will have a Fiscal Stability Fund (FEF), which aims to "smooth out the volatility of tax expenditures and reduce the frequency and severity of fluctuations" in the economic cycle.
The capitalisation of the FBF, announced the Minister of Finance, Vera Daves, at the time of the approval of the draft law in general, should only occur in economic years where the gross public sector borrowing requirements are equal to or less than 50 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
On the vote in favour of the parliamentary group of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), deputy Raul Danda, said that they consider the approved law to be an instrument, "which, if complied with, can in fact improve the management of public affairs and bring about a new era of transparency and accountability when this transparency does not occur".
He said that the law "is intended to ensure that public managers develop transparent management and are held accountable when they confuse guardian with owner of the farm and the goats are on the loose, eating all the grass they find where they go".
In his explanation of vote, Congressman Manuel Fernandes, of the parliamentary group of Convergência Ampla de Salvação de Angola - Coigação Eleitoral (CASA-CE), said they voted in favour, because "with this law the conditions are created for the creation in parliament of the Public Accounts Committee, which is the mechanism that has to reinforce the effectiveness of the instruments of public finance management, as well as the fiscal rules that compete for the implementation of fiscal policy".
"We voted in favour of the fact that this law is the legal instrument that can guarantee macroeconomic stabilisation and the sustainability of public finances, given that Angola's economy continues to decelerate, due to the external shock with the fall in the price of a barrel of oil on the international market and the reduction in production levels in the country," he said.
Ruth Mendes, a member of the MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola) parliamentary group, considered the new law "very profound, which contains clear rules and principles, which will create the basis for the sustainability of public debt.
"This law will allow the monitoring of macroeconomic growth, taking as a starting point, the level of expected revenue and the degree of public expenditure executed, assumptions that will contribute to reducing the budget deficit," said the deputy, adding that this law will also promote transparency, which will also contribute to the quality of democracy and economic policy decisions, "bringing the great benefit of strengthening the credibility of the Angolan state in the international arena.
In the presentation of the law, at the time of the discussion in general, the holder of the Finance portfolio stressed that the legislative initiative of the executive resulted from the macro fiscal context that Angola is experiencing, since 2014, "marked by a slowdown in growth.
The Public Finance Sustainability Law defines the main instruments for public finance management as the budget, the medium-term fiscal framework, the fiscal rules and the medium-term expenditure framework.
Vera Daves advanced at the time that this law covers as fiscal anchors the level of indebtedness and the level of the non-oil primary fiscal deficit, and it also provides for preventive measures to reach those levels and corrective measures in cases where it is deviating from them.
