Luanda - The social sector accounts for the second largest share of the proposed State Budget for 2024, valued at 24.7 billion, with a weight of 20.1% (Kz 4.9 billion), for programmes to expand and improve the health and education systems.
This is an increase of 2.9% compared to the 2023 State Budget, with Education, Health, Housing, Community Services and Environmental Protection standing out, accounting for 15.5 per cent, 13.5 per cent, 10.3 per cent and 0.1 per cent of primary fiscal expenditure, respectively.
In a forecast marked by high debt servicing, which accounts for around 57.8 per cent of total budget expenditure, with a total of Kz 14.3 billion, the Executive plans to further strengthen the income of families and workers and make it more accessible to people, invest more in the economy and companies, and make the General State Budget more sustainable.
After the social sector come General Public Services with 9.0% (Kz 2.2 billion), Defence, Security and Public Order with 7.1% (Kz 1.7 billion) and, finally, the economic sector concentrating 4.9% of total expenditure, i.e. Kz 1.2 billion.
According to the draft State Budget for 2024, which was submitted to parliament last week for discussion and voting, spending on executive bodies will fall by 7.2 per cent and spending on public administration will fall by 80.2 per cent. Spending on judicial bodies is expected to fall by 5.2 per cent.
A fifth of the 24.7 billion kwanzas in the proposed State Budget is earmarked for the social sector, with education receiving 15.5 per cent and health 13.5 per cent. Overall, spending on the social sector represents almost three times the amount to be spent on Defence, Security and Public Order, which gets 7.1 percent.
Health will continue to look at building new hospitals
By 2024, the Programme for the Expansion and Improvement of the National Health System is expected to consume 288,386,724,288.00 kwanzas, with the construction of various hospital infrastructures across the country being included in the programme proposal.
Of the portfolio of projects at central level, 31 infrastructures are expected to be built, including 14 general hospitals, three tertiary-level mother and child hospitals, 10 specialised treatment units, with emphasis on the future Burns Hospital, Oncology Hospital, Traumatology Hospital and Luanda Ophthalmology Hospital.
A large number of hospitals are expected to be inaugurated next year, namely the Sumbe General Hospital, the Ondjiva General Hospital, the Ndalatando General Hospital, the Viana General Hospital, the Cacuaco General Hospital, the Pedalé General Hospital in Luanda and the Luau Municipal Hospital.
It also includes the construction and equipping of the Municipal Hospital of Ecunha (Huambo), the completion of the Paediatric Rehabilitation of the General Hospital of Uíge, the construction and equipping of the Paediatric Hospital of Huambo, the Forensic Anatomy Institute of Luanda, the Trauma Centre of Excellence, among others.
More classrooms
The government is proposing to invest 150,827,645,560.00 kwanzas to implement the Education System Expansion and Modernisation Programme, where the construction of new schools throughout the country is a priority, such as the Chissamba Mission Secondary Institute (Bié), secondary schools in the provinces of Malange, Lundas Norte and Sul, Cuando Cubango, Cunene, Uíge, Moxico and Zaire.
The programme also includes the acquisition of laboratories, the fight against school drop-outs and integration into the education system, as well as the computerisation and development of primary and secondary education.
Kwenda expansion
For 2024, the Executive reaffirms its commitment to continue expanding the “Kwenda" social protection program, with a view to covering more families with cash. This year, more than 203,536 new families are expected to join, making a total of 1,553,536, in addition to supplementary benefits for families already in the programme.
Impact on gender
In this budget proposal, notwithstanding the other budgets of the Bodies of the Budgetary System with an impact on gender mainstreaming, the actions with the greatest impact in this area are related to the gender equality programme under the PDN 2023-2027, budgeted at Kz 11,533,908,912.00, an amount that will be earmarked for continuing efforts to reduce inequalities by implementing initiatives to support communities, such as: SOS Line for Domestic Violence and Family Counselling, Family Economic Empowerment, Support for Rural Women, among others.
The commitment to gender equality remains an integral part of the Executive's efforts to incorporate women's perspectives into the framework of public policies, to expand people's choices, create a just and sustainable world and achieve the existing vision for gender mainstreaming in Angola
The GSB-2024 proposal will be discussed and voted on in general in the next few days by the National Assembly Plenary, and will then move on to a specialised discussion with the social partners and a final overall vote.
It is valued at Kz 24.7 billion, representing an increase of 22.9 per cent compared to the 2023 State Budget. ART/DAN/DOJ
