Independent Opinion of State Budget for 2017 Issued

The NGO Assistance to Economic Initiatives (AEI) has published an opinion on the state budget for 2017, which also reflected the recommendations.

According to the expert group of the organization, execution of the state budget for next year will be accompanied by "large risks". Everything will depend on the implementation of economic reforms, normalization of the situation in the banking sector, improving the investment and business climate, transparency and efficiency of financial management.

Experts suggest the government make public:

forecasts of the revenue side of the budget for specific payments;

budget commitments and payments by SOCAR and other large state-owned companies;

local budget revenues for specific payments.

According to experts of AEI, in the following years, changes in the Tax Code must be entered no later than May.

It is proposed to form a regulatory framework that will coordinate the strategic and budgetary planning of government departments over a 5-year period. The budget process requires the participation of civil society.

NGO experts believe the government should launch a budget planning mechanism aimed at concrete results in view of the efficiency and quality indicators.

In addition, experts suggest not allowing growth of the debt burden of the state budget at the expense of self-supporting state-owned companies. This leads to the fact that the state loses its financial capacity to improve the social status of the population.

The document also reflects other suggestions to improve the budget process. It has been submitted to the government. -----08D