The Togolese government adopted Friday, May 25, a draft budget law amended marked by a decline in the forecast in the initial version of the general budget 2018.
Indeed, the rectified budget is balanced in revenue and expenditure at CFA 1,308.1 billion compared to $ 1,318.5 billion in the initial budget law, a decrease of 1%. According to the executive, this action is “made necessary by the evolution of the socio-economic and financial situation,” characterized by the socio-political crisis “enamelled by violence that has affected negatively since the second half of 2017, economic activity, reducing as a result, the level of mobilization of tax and customs revenues “.
This situation, observed under the 2017 management, is also reflected in the execution of the 2018 budget for which the level of tax revenue recovered during the first quarter did not reach the set target, the official statement continues.
As a reminder, the government had made a lot of money, when the budget was being drafted, on broadening the tax base, finding new tax loopholes and introducing a tax innovation policy to improve the tax rate.
In addition to the socio-political crisis, this revision of the budget is also attributed to the satisfaction of new social needs which have increased the level of expenditure.
Announced to be oriented towards the consolidation of public finances, the acceleration of economic growth and the adequate management of the social demand, the general budget management 2018 had increased by 8.2% compared to the year the original amount was 1,218.9 billion, against a corrigendum of 1,412.2 billion.
