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Opening Remarks
Honourable Speaker, Honourable Members of Parliament
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I rise in this Honourable House this afternoon in fulfillment of the statutory provision that required me to present to this August House estimates of income and expenditures for the account of the state for the year ending 31st March 2006 and the medium term expenditure framework for 2005/2006 to 2007/2008 for approval.
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Honourable Speaker, this is the first budget to be presented to the 4th legislative term. Namibia witnessed major political events during 2004, namely the National Assembly and the Regional Councils elections as well as the smooth transfer of power from our Founding Father, Dr. Sam Nujoma, to the current president, H.E. Comrade Hifikepunye Pohamba. This is a remarkable achievement for our democratic system and our country. I wish to, therefore, congratulate Namibia for this achievement. Sincere congratulations also go to His Excellency Comrade Hifikepunye Pohamba for receiving the honour of becoming the second President of our Republic. In the same vein I wish to express my profound gratitude to Comrade Sam Shafiishuna Nujoma, our founding President and father of the Namibian revolution for his selfless service to Namibia and its people. Namibia shall remain forever indebted to him for the selfless sacrifices that he has made for this country.
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In my budget statement a year ago, I explained the hard choices to be made and the reform of the budget process from input based to allocations based on what we get for the value of our money and moving from how much each Ministry should get to the benefits that will accrue to our citizens.
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My speech will first set out the fiscal and economic background of the budget. I will then set out expenditure decisions in the budget using programme budgeting and the medium term plans. I will then lastly set the fiscal consequences of those decisions and how we intend to further improve financial management.
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