Luanda — The draft State Budget for 2009 presented Friday to the National Assembly (Angolan Parliament) by the Government will have public expenditures sustainability and rationality as its main exes.

This was said Friday in Luanda by the prime minister, António Paulo Kassoma, during the presentation of the draft State Budget and Government National Plan for 2009 to the National Assembly.

He said on the occasion that the Government budgetary policy will mainly focus on improving the efficiency of the sector, the public expenditures and fiscal revenues, with the social sector taking 34,6 percent of the budget, while 28,9 will go for the public administration and 14,7 for the economic sector.

The budgetary policy will also consider specific measures like adjustment to the public servants salaries, in line with the expected inflation, approval of a new national system of prices and the regime of prices of consumer goods and services.

It will also focus on a re-definition of the policy on direct subsidies to consumer and productive activity applicable to fuels, water, electricity and public transports tariffs.

A study for eventual granting of direct subsidies to industrial producers who show capacity to satisfy internal demands for domestic products competing with goods of import and the implementation of a financial clearance programme and restructuring of strategic public companies and of the sectors that constitute State reserve, in order to better monitoring its performance, are among the priorities of the budgetary policy.

The budgetary policy includes the registration of the civil servants, of the police and military personnel, pension beneficiaries, approval of the fiscal reform plan and respective executive programme for 2009 and revision of incentives to private investments.

The prime minister said as well that the State Budget will also impose a tax on tobacco and alcoholic drinks as a source of revenues for the National Youth Policy and fiscal guarantees for insurance, pension funds under the fiscal code project.

Paulo Kassoma stated that the State Budget includes projected revenues estimated at about Akz 2.3 billion and fiscal expenditures of about Akz 2.8 billion, corresponding respectively to 41,3 and 49 percent of the Gross Domestic Product.

The global balance is of Akz 448 billion, orresponding to a deficit of 7,7 percent of the GDP.