LEGISLATION WATCH- FinMin releases draft Budget Act: The Finance Ministry has released the draft Unified Budget Act (pdf) and an explanatory presentation on the legislation (pdf) ahead of putting it up for public consultations and cabinet discussion. The new act merges legislation governing the annual fiscal budget and government accountability into an updated bill that accounts for modern budget preparation processes and erases overlap between different pieces of legislation.

What the bill entails: If approved, the legislation would require the government to present an annual medium-term budgetary and fiscal strategy to the House of Representatives. The same policy strategy would also be a requirement for each new incoming government. The act would also alter how the state budget allocates funding by imposing a top-down structure that would require the government to set spending limits for each ministry, which would then divvy up the funding for the bodies and organizations under its purview. The legislation would also enshrine the implementation of program and performance budgeting. Increased oversight and transparency in government spending is also a key component of the proposed act to curb graft and the misuse of public funds, according to the ministry.