Just one day before Thursday’s crucial vote in parliament on the 2021 state budget and all is up in the air with high possibility it will be voted down. And that the provisional twelfths’ rule will apply for the months of January and February.
However, these funds also have to be approved by parliament and this sparks a constitutional problem, Philenews reported on Wednesday.
Because, unlike previous times, the budget’s approval won’t just be postponed this year but it will be voted down instead.
Another big headache for the state will be the partial paralysis sparked by the insufficient amount of available funds and the urgent economic demands the coronavirus pandemic has ushered in.
An anxious Finance Minister has already warned that the state won’t be able to pay for the much-anticipated vaccines due to be delivered in January.
The twelfths’ rule provides that state payments for January and February would be made directly from the state’s Fixed Fund. And this strictly covers salaries, pensions, welfare allowances and operating expenses, according to Philenews.
However, during this period expenses cannot exceed those of the respective month in the previous year.
From 1997 to 2003, budgets were not approved in time due to late submission and this rule applied without much of a hassle.
But if the 2021 budget gets voted down by majority is because of the clash between the government and opposition parties over the controversial citizenship by investment scheme.
This was abolished in November after a scandalous TV reportage which exposed politicians, developers and government officials.
The parties strongly object to the government’s decision not to hand specific files to the Auditor General’s Office.
