Ramallah – The Civil Society Team for Enhancing Public Budget Transparency (“Team) called for a joint meeting with the Team representatives to present and discuss the financial position of, and challenges facing, the Palestinian Authority, as well as the 2023 budget proposal. The Team reiterated its demand for publishing and submitting for public discussion the 2023 budget proposal before it is approved. Spending priorities and financial collection policies need to be taken into account.
This follows a continued total lack of information on the budget proposal, in clear contravention to the 1998 Law on the Budget Regulation. According to the law, the 2023 budget proposal should have been submitted to the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) in early November 2022. The budget law will be promulgated on 1 January 2023. To date, however, no information has been out about the draft budget law by decree.
In a letter to the Ministry of Finance (MoF), the Team stressed the importance of a participatory approach, particularly given the challenges to the question of Palestine both internally and externally. Although it constitutes the major tool of accountability, the PLC has been out of session, underlining the need for a community debate of potential scenarios. To serve the Palestinian public interest, the views of experts and specialists need to be taken into consideration. Discussion will involve the MoF processes and mechanisms to address the reservations made by the State Audit and Administrative Control Bureau about the 2018-2019 final accounts, 2023 budget proposal, and challenges encountered by the MoF in implementing previous fiscal reform plans.
