The deputies of the 8th legislature were at the Governors Palace in Porto-Novo this Thursday, October 15, 2020 as part of the 5th extraordinary session of 2020 devoted to the examination and vote of the revised 2020 state budget project. At the end of the work, the representatives of the people approved the main orientations adopted by the Government for the 2020 budget revised due to the Covid 19.

It is by an emergency procedure that the parliamentarians under the leadership of the President of the National Assembly, Louis Gbèhounou Vlavonou, decided to examine the draft general budget of the State, management 2020 revised due to the pandemic of Coronavirus. Thus the finance committee in charge of the said file, through its chairman, the Honorable Gérard Gbénonchi, bent over backwards to make its report available to the national representation, which was submitted to the plenary for study. a few hours later. Indeed, the budget execution for the 2020 management is expected to take place in a less good economic environment than expected due to the negative impacts of Covid 19 which shook the world during this year. Benin has had some for its own account and several sectors of activity have been affected. In this perspective, urgent measures have been taken as well as a call for national and international solidarity. It was therefore necessary to reorganize the budget to contain the new situation.

Insights into the revamped state budget
The revised State Budget for 2020 management is balanced in resources and expenses at the sum of 2167.099 billion CFA francs against 1986.910 billion CFA francs, i.e. an increase of 180.189 billion CFA francs, corresponding to an increase rate of 9.1%. This draft amending finance law for 2020 management is based on the economic policy benchmarks and the fundamentals of fiscal policy defined by the State since the start of the 2016-2021 five-year term. The conduct of economic policy will thus remain in line with the National Development Plan (PND2018-2025), the Growth Program for Sustainable Development (PC2D 2018-2025) and the Government Action Program (PAG 2016-2021), with a marked emphasis on its component “strengthening basic social services and social protection”. Following these guidelines, the priority sectors alone account for more than 70% of the volume of budgetary credits allocated to capital expenditure. The growth rate should stand at 2.3% against 7.6% initially forecast in a controlled inflation environment. The budget deficit should stand at 5.1% of GDP against 1.8% forecast in the initial budget law, management 2020. This projected level, should begin next year, a return to the community standard after the temporary suspension across the world of budgetary discipline rules to allow States to give themselves the means to effectively face the health and social challenges. and economic impact due to COVID-19. As for the outstanding debt, it would experience a slight increase, given the priority accorded by the Government to budgetary grants and assistance funds to compensate for the loss of revenue recorded by the financial authorities.

Wadagni facing the deputies
From the document presented by the Ministry of Finance and the Economy, it emerges that the increase is explained by the inclusion in the State budget of health emergency expenditure, cash transfers in support of citizens, businesses, craftsmen and households as well as by measures to facilitate access to credit, on the one hand, and the upgrading of sanitary equipment and facilities on the other hand. It must also be said that this amending finance bill took into account the various contributions received from donors and technical and financial partners in Benin as part of the implementation of the national response plan against Covid 19. The concerns of the deputies revolved around the details of the beneficiaries of the exemption from the TVM for 2020; covering the electricity and water bills of companies, as part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic; the need to extend the social measures induced by COVID-19 to teachers in private schools; the arrangements made to ensure the effective reimbursement of VAT credits to businesses; measures taken to ensure the resilience of the Beninese economy to the persistence or resurgence of COVID-19. The deputies unanimously voted the draft general budget of the State, revised management 2020 and appreciated the many efforts of the government and the Minister of Finance Romuald Wadagni.