SAC Vice Chairman Deputy Prime Minister Vice-Senior General Soe Win addresses coordination meeting on submission of Union budget for financial year 2024-2025
Nay Pyi Taw March 11
A coordination meeting on the submission of Union budget for financial year 2024-2025 was held at Ministry of Planning and Finance here this afternoon, addressed by Vice Chairman of Financial Commission Vice Chairman of State Administration Council Deputy Prime Minister Vice-Senior General Soe Win.
Also present were SAC member Lt-Gen Nyo Saw, union level officials, union ministers, the union auditor-general, the Union Civil Service Board chair, the Nay Pyi Taw Council chair, the Central Bank governor, heads of departments and officials.
The Vice-Senior General said the meeting is the final scrutinization of the budget for FY 2024-2025 which had already passed through the inspection process of the pre-inspection committee for budgets of union and region/state of MoPF in accord with national policy. The SAC is systematically managing the nation’s income and expenditure in accord with public budget management means to remedy and redevelop the national economy that was in a downturn due to COVID-19.
Work is being done according to the five-point roadmap and nine objectives. Efforts are being made to fully collect the year-wise incomes of union level and region/state level departments and organizations, and allotment of expenses is being carried out in accord with the Constitution, national planning law, budget law, union tax law.
As regards income and expenditure, all the ministries and region/state governments were able to overcome the hardships and challenges triggered by disturbances against the national interests and successfully realize the economic goals with perseverance. SAC has recognized and documented their efforts.
Budget allotment is fixed after adopting the inflation control framework by checking the ration between deficit and GDP.
There will be hardships and challenges in realizing the projects based on the allotted income.
Efforts to overcome those hardships and challenges and effectively spend the entire budget will underpin the national progress in all sectors. Production growth will increase GDP through exports and local sales.
Hence, budgets should be effectively used and all hardships and challenges must be overcome.
Participants should be aware that the Prime Minister told officials to spend the funds returned by some ministries in some sectors such as education, health and transportation.
As debts of the country will increase if the country has a lot of budget deficits, it is necessary that budget deficits must be kept within an appropriate range to maintain debt sustainability and inflation under control.
According to statistics scrutinized at the union level, the deficit-to-GDP ratio amounted to 8.86 percent at first. When the ratio was finally scrutinized again based on the framework and operations and profitability step by step, it was found that the deficit-to-GDP ratio for the 2024-2025 fiscal year stood at 5.67 percent and was higher than average 5 percent. In the 2023-2024 fiscal year, the deficitto- GDP ratio stood at 5.65 percent and that of the 2024-2025 fiscal year increased by 0.02 percent.
When the causes for the increase was scrutinized, it was found that the ratio for the 2024-2025 fiscal year is higher by 0.02 compared to that of the 2023-2024 fiscal year due to exchange rate discrepancies between MMK and foreign currencies, the allowance for hardships and risks, the allowance for trainees, the spending under the People's Military Service Law and the spending for development of socioeconomic lives and infrastructure of the country.
Ministries that can earn maximum revenues for the country are urged to try to do so according to and exceeding the revenue targets. Similarly, it is necessary to reduce social spending and expenditures for relevant departments without wasting excessively and significant losses unnecessarily. Ministries that can earn revenues for the country are urged to meet revenue targets regardless of hardships and challenges.
Then, the chairman of the scrutinizing committee of budgets for the union and regions or states member of the SAC explained the tasks carried out for scrutiny of union and region or state budgets for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.
Afterward, Secretary of the Financial Commission Union Minister U Win Shein and Deputy Minister U Maung Maung Win reported to the Vice-Senior General on budget proposals for the 2024-2025 fiscal year drawn by union level organizations and the union level budget for the union for the 2024-2025 fiscal year verified by the Ministry of Planning and Finance in detail respectively.
Then, Auditor General of the Union Dr Khin Naing Oo reported to the Vice-Senior General on matters related to auditing revenue and spending accounts.
Afterward, officials of union level organizations and union ministers and officials from ministries reported to the Vice-Senior General on budgets of relevant organizations and ministries while the secretary of the Financial Commission made supplementary reports to the Vice-Senior General.
Then, the Vice-Senior General made necessary coordination and concluding remarks.