Parliament Approves National Budget, Secures Victory for Afghan People

Parliament Approves National Budget, Secures Victory for Afghan People, Transparency, Accountability and Oversight of Ghani Administration’s Budget and Spending Processes

The Afghan Parliament has approved the third draft of the FY21 National Budget proposal after several months of acrimony between the Parliament and the Ghani administration. The two equal branches of government reached an agreement on nearly all 19 areas of the budget that Parliament sought amendments to. The Parliament’s fight to demand equality, transparency, and accountability in the government’s proposed budget ended in a resounding victory for all Afghan people and the democratic process in Afghanistan.

Parliament secured key amendments to the FY21 national budget proposal, including a monthly salary increase of 2,000 Afghanis for teachers and ordinary government employees, removing the controversial National Dinner Table Program from the budget, increasing Parliamentary oversight authority of future budgets, allocating 4.4 billion Afghanis for critical development projects, eliminating lavish expense payments for high ranking government officials, limiting excessive salaries for government employees, limiting the use of discretionary and emergency Codes (91, 92), and removing low priority government programs.

Speaker Mir Rahman Rahmani thanked all the MPs, particularly the members of the Finance and Budget Committee, for their time, effort, and commitment to the budget process. "Today is an important and historic day for the members of the 17th Parliament and the people of Afghanistan. After two months of struggle, you succeeded in your attempt to represent the legitimate interests of the Afghan people by ensuring equality and justice in the national budget."