The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) has, during its virtual plenary today, passed the Adjustments Appropriation Bill.
The Bill was passed after 36 delegates to the NCOP voted in its favour while 23 voted against it - with abstentions.
The Bill, as tabled by the Minister of Finance Mr Tito Mboweni on 24 June 2020, was amended by the National Assembly and referred to the NCOP for concurrence as the Adjustments Appropriation Bill [B10B – 2020]. The NCOP assigned the Select Committee on Appropriations to process the Bill and the Committee recommended that the House agree to the Bill without amendments.
The Bill seeks to appropriate money from the National Revenue Fund to provide for requirements of the state for the 2020/21 financial year. It makes specific allocations to specific state departments and entities and sets conditions for spending these.
An amendment to the Bill also enables the Minister of Finance to approve urgent expenditure for contingencies’ funding before October. This is when a second Adjustments Appropriation Bill is due for introduction, with the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement.
The 2020 Appropriations Act, related to the February Budget Speech, enabled the Minister of Finance to approve expenditure, which could not reasonably be delayed without negatively affecting service delivery.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the worsening economic conditions confronting the country made this special Supplementary Adjustments Budget necessary.
The Bill will now be sent to the President for assent.
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Moloto Mothapo
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