NEDLAC'S DISCUSSIONS ON THE 1996-97 BUDGET BROADEN
TRANSPARENCY AND PARTICIPATION
13 March 1996
With the Minister of Finance, Mr Chris Liebenberg, delivering
the 1996-97 Budget speech in Parliament this afternoon, a unique
process in Nedlac comes to an end.
From the start of the discussions on the Budget, the social
partners in Nedlac's Public Finance and Monetary Policy Chamber
characterised their deliberations as a rigorous exchange of
information and points of view in order to maximise a common
understanding of the various opinions they hold on the Budget. The
partners acknowledged that the Minister of Finance remains solely
responsible for the Budget, and in this spirit did not seek a
formal agreement on the Budget.
This approach, therefore, provided government with an
opportunity to hear business and labour viewpoints on the Budget,
as well as their responses to Budget-related proposals. Government
also used the chamber as a vehicle for providing the social
partners with information on the 1996-97 Budget when Mr Liebenberg
and his deputy, Mr Alec Erwin, as well as government-department
officials gave presentations to the chamber.
Both business and labour also participated in the Department of
State Expenditure's function and Budget committees, which are
responsible for addressing the spending priorities of the various
line departments in the context of the broad budgetary guidelines,
as well as for evaluating inputs by national and provincial
departments on the expenditure priorities for the 1996-97 financial
year.
As agreed in the chamber, government also held bilaterals with
business and labour to address specific issues of concern to their
constituencies. The chamber also identified core issues that will
need to be addressed during discussions on the 1997-98 Budget, as
well as issues government should consider in the context of a
medium to long-term budgetary framework.
These discussions in Nedlac signal a positive step towards
transparency in the Budget process, and should be seen as the
starting point of an upcoming programme of substantial policy
discussion in the chamber.