Luanda — The government on Friday made the official handing over of its National Plan and the State Budget for 2009 to the parliament, thereby marking the first step for the process of analysing the two documents by MPs.

The documents were handed over by the minister of Economy, Manuel Nunes Júnior, to the speaker of the National Assembly (parliament), Fernado da Piedade Dias dos Santos, in the presence of ministers of Finance and of Planning, Severim de Morais and Ana Dias Lourenço, respectively.

At the ceremony, the parliament was represented by the first deputy speaker, João Lourenço, chairperson of the Commission of Economy and Finance, Diógenes de Oliveira, and the second presiding secretary, Emília Carlota Dias.

At the end of the meeting, the minister of Economy, Manuel Nunes Júnior, considered the National Plane and the State Budget as "two documents important for the country's management", stressing that the handing over to the parliament results from the fulfilling of the related legal documents.

The two documents shall be presented next week to the plenary of the National Assembly by the government, and shall be later discussed and voted in the commissions of specialities of the parliament.

The State Budget and the National Plan for 2009 were approved last Wednesday at the first ordinary session of the Cabinet Council, presided over by the Head of State, José Eduardo dos Santos.

The State Budget comprises revenues estimated at over three trillion Angolan Kwanzas and expenses estimated at a similar amount.