Nedlac facilitates new approach to the Budget

A new transparent and democratic approach to compiling thenational Budget kicks off tomorrow (Monday, 4 August) as Nedlac starts a three-day provincial-workshop process aimed at obtaining input into the Nedlac submission to the Minister of Finance on the medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF) for the 1998-99 Budget.

This year's submission will focus on the delivery of primaryhealth care and primary and secondary schooling.

The series of provincial workshops from 4-6 August willfacilitate interaction between the four Nedlac constituencies: business, labour,government and community. For each of the two areas being considered, the submission will undertake an assessment of current levels of output and service delivery, study the extentof backlogs and needs and recommend financing and delivery strategies aimed at enhancing the efficiency of delivery in the medium-term.

Nedlac will compile a single consensus submission by early September 1997 for the consideration of the Minister of Finance.

In preparation for the provincial workshops, a comprehensiveresearch report was compiled which offers provincial assessments of backlogs, the rate ofdelivery, and future projected needs in terms of infrastructure, human resources,institutional resources and management systems.

Following the provincial workshops, Nedlac's Public Finance andMonetary Policy Chamber will develop a draft composite submission based on theconstituency submissions, research papers and reports from the provincial workshops. Thefinal report will be submitted to the Minister of Finance in early September 1997.

"This is the first time a submission of this type will bemade to the Minister of Finance. The value to the minister is that he will be presentedwith the consensus points between the various parties, as opposed to individualsubmissions. It is envisaged that this will be an annual process, even though the focus islikely to change from year to year," the Nedlac facilitators explained.

Regional media will be provided with a report on the findings ofeach of the workshops. The schedule for provincial workshops is as follows:

• Monday, 4 August Western Cape, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal
• Tuesday, 5 August Gauteng, Northern Cape, Mpumalanga
• Wednesday, 6 August Free State, Northern Province and Northwest