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This article addresses the political, social and broader economic context of public finance reforms in Angola, drawing upon historical perspectives of economic development in Africa and the country’s own experience. The article highlights changes in Angolan practices in line with generally accepted public finance principles, and demonstrates how these reforms occurred within a particular political economy and within sets of international financial, economic, trade and political relationships that influenced their design and implementation. The article illustrates how economic structures and governance systems have been directly linked to the platform of natural resources and social relationships in Angola and in the general African context.
In recent years a greater demand for strengthening the role of the legislature in the budget process has become evident worldwide: more than a quarter of countries have revised their constitutions over the last 15 years to give Parliament more powers. In particular, several African countries are experiencing pressure to increase the legislature’s role in the preparatory stage of the budget process and as a check on the executive. This article argues that there are risks in allowing greater parliamentary activism, but that a greater risk is associated with marginalising the role of Parliament in the budget process. The article sets out options for designing a role for Parliament that allows it sufficient oversight, while managing the risks of ill-disciplined parliamentary action leading to excess spending or of Parliament becoming a conduit for narrow, ineffective spending demands.