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(2004/C 33 E/013)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2862/02

by José Ribeiro e Castro (UEN) to the Commission

(10 October 2002)

Subject:   Angola — 2003 budget

The international community and NGOs closely acquainted with the situation in Angola have frequently commented on and criticised the Angolan Government's low level of commitment in social areas, one of the symptoms of this being the low level of budgetary resources allocated, year after year, to areas such as health, social assistance, education, housing, hygiene, etc. The protracted civil war is supposed to be the decisive factor in all this, contributing to the paradoxical situation pointed out by the last ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (‘the inhuman paradox of a potentially very rich country whose population lives in conditions of extreme poverty, which has been a feature of the suffering of the Angolan people for many years’) and by the European Parliament in its resolution of 11 April this year — P5_ TA(2002)0192 (‘the inhuman paradox of a potentially very rich country whose population lives in conditions of extreme poverty, which has been for long years a feature of the suffering of the Angolan people’).

At times the Angolan Government has shown some receptiveness to the criticisms and a willingness to change this state of affairs. This was the case during the drafting and adoption of the State Budget for 2002, when the Angolan Minister for Planning declared, in November 2001, that for the first time since Angola's independence the defence sector was being relegated to third place, whilst health and education were to be allocated a larger share.

Now a profound and even more pronounced change is to be expected in the 2003 budget, with two factors being taken into account: firstly, the war is over, and secondly, support and assistance is being sought by millions of displaced persons and refugees, because of the resettlement of the population and the simple return to normality for the civilian population, who are eager for normal living conditions and development.

Without prejudice to the aid which must continue to be provided by the international community, in particular the EU and the Member States, if this new approach with a marked social bias is adopted unequivocally by the Angolan authorities, it would be likely to encourage future donor conferences considerably, since it would constitute an important sign of good governance and an indication that the enormous wealth, capacity and potential of Angola are finally being used for the benefit of the whole population and for the overall progress of the country.

In view of all this, can the Commission say whether it has followed the developments in the Angolan budgets, in particular as regards the implementation of the 2002 budget and the preparation of the budget for 2003? What is its opinion of the implementation of the 2002 budget and the preparation of the forthcoming budget for 2003, in particular as regards social areas and responsibilities and the importance they are or are not given?

Joint answer

to Written Questions E-2861/02 and E-2862/02

given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(4 December 2002)

The issues of the transparency and accuracy of public accounts and the implementation/preparation of the 2002 and 2003 budgets are closely linked. There is consensus that the transparency and accuracy of Angolan public accounts are far from satisfactory in particular as regards oil and diamond revenues, and that reliable data are almost impossible to come by. This is at the root of the difficulties of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)/Angolan relationship. The Commission considers close co-operation between Angola and the IMF to be crucial for the reconstruction of the country and encourages Angola to make efforts to overcome the current deadlock.

The Commission stresses the need to set up transparent, responsible mechanisms for managing Angola's natural resources, in particular oil production and diamonds, so that revenues therefrom can be used to combat poverty and to finance the reconstruction of the country, complemented by the ongoing contributions of the international community. One of the Community's priorities in its future co-operation strategy with Angola is therefore to assist in the improvement of the management of public finances. The level and nature of that assistance, estimated in the range of EUR 5-10 million, depends very much on solid co-operation with and co-ordination within the Angolan Government. The Government of Angola declared that full transparency will be achieved during the next three years and the fulfilment of this pledge will be followed closely. Furthermore, an audit on the oil sector is under preparation. An IMF mission to Angola is expected to take place late 2002, indicating some positive movement.

As regards information on the implementation of the 2002 budget and the preparation of the 2003 budget, the lack of accurate and detailed information excludes a substantiated comment in this matter. In the 2002 state budget, which was adopted in a revised form on 17 July 2002, it has not been possible to verify to what extent — if at all — spending in the social sectors exceeds that in the defence sector. The budget for 2003 is still under discussion. However, the government's Economic and Social Programme for 2003/2004 was approved last month, including the Investment Programme for the recovery of basic services (health, education, water, electricity, and rural roads) for the rural population. This investment programme envisages a USD 20 million investment per province in the next two years (USD 10 million for 2003 and US$ 10 million for 2004). This would, if implemented, mean an important improvement in social spending and a welcome matching of expenditure with the Community financed rural rehabilitation programme in the central highlands.

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