State budget to be presented to Parliament on 26 November

Speaker of Parliament Abdullah Shahid has informed Finance Minister Abdullah Jihad that the presentation of the State budget has been put on the Parliament agenda for 26 November.

A letter sent by the Speaker to the Finance Minister states that according to the Parliament rules, the State budget must be presented to the Parliament before 1 December, thus, the presentation of the State budget has been scheduled for 26 November.

Shahid also informed Finance Ministry to send the necessary budget details to the Parliament before Sunday.

The letter states that the Parliament debate on the budget will commence on 3 December - seven days after the budget is submitted to the Parliament as required by the rules.

Finance Minister will attend the Parliament on 26 November and present a budget summary brief on the current economic position of the country.

Finance Minister Jihad has said that next year's budget cannot exceed this year's, and that next year's state income is also unlikely to exceed this year's.

He has also said that the recommendations of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), including restricting dollar exchange amounts for resorts and increasing tourism taxes, will be presented to the Parliament with the budget.