The amended finance bill was adopted with amendments by the National Assembly yesterday. During the debates, the significant reduction in the budget for the department in charge of water, implemented during committee proceedings, drew sharp criticism.
An inconsistency. This is what several deputies highlighted during the debates leading up to the adoption of the amended finance bill yesterday at the National Assembly in Tsimbazaza. The inconsistency, which was pointed out, concerns the budget allocated to the Ministry of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene.
The elected officials present unanimously adopted the amended version of the budgetary text. In principle, the list of amendments to the amended finance bill should have included the one concerning the Ministry of Water’s budget. Those who participated in the committee sessions last week had indeed decided to substantially reduce the credit allocated to this ministerial department, which is tasked with leading, among other things, projects for access to drinking water.
This budgetary cut is estimated to be around 40 billion ariary, a decision that sparked a heated debate during yesterday’s plenary session. It was a misunderstanding that some deputies had already raised in the morning during debates on the modification of the Lower House’s agenda to include the vote on the amended finance bill in the afternoon. “Access and supply of water were among the main reasons for the crisis we experienced last year, and today, we are reducing the budget related to it,” one official questioned.
“Even with the initial budget, projects for access to drinking water were unable to reach all districts. Now we are reducing it,” protested deputy Velomihoatra Painchard Andriamanantena, elected in Farafangana, adding, “I reiterate: Madagascar is not just Antananarivo. Localities in our districts have also been facing water problems for a long time.” Herimanantsoa Odilon Bototefy, deputy for Vondrozo, emphasized that the reduction primarily affects the investment budget.
Judging by the speeches at the Tsimbazaza institution yesterday, the “low budget execution” of the Ministry of Water during the 2025 fiscal year was the reason for this budgetary reduction made during the committee proceedings. However, it was pointed out during yesterday’s debates that this weakness in execution concerns all public entities. Furthermore, for the first half of 2026, the average budget execution rate is reported to be 21%.
Political Risks
“In my opinion, the responsibility for the weak budget execution rate cannot be attributed to the ministries alone, especially since the current teams have only been in office for a few months. I think it is time to review budget commitment procedures. How do you want to work when the budget commitment only opens in March and is closed before the end of the year?” argued the deputy from Vondrozo.
In an intervention laden with implications, deputy Fidèle Razara Pierre, elected in Ambatondrazaka, highlighted the political risks of the initiative taken in committee. “We intend to significantly reduce the budget allocated to one of the sectors that hurts the population the most. This could backfire on us. The stakes of water and electricity are the same,” asserted the vice-president of the Lower House for the Toamasina province.
An increase of 40 billion ariary was indeed applied to the budget of the Ministry of Energy and Hydrocarbons. A sum which, according to the explanations of Siteny Randrianasoloniaiko, President of the National Assembly, “will be made available to Jirama” to finance fuel procurement for thermal power plants during the low-water period “in order to avoid power cuts.”
To reassure the parliamentarians, Dr. Herinjatovo Aimé Ramiarison, Minister of Economy and Finance, highlighted that the State is also relying on international cooperation to finance projects for the supply of and access to drinking water. The restoration of the budget for the Ministry of Water to the initially planned amount, which was a little over 443 billion ariary, was nevertheless requested during yesterday’s plenary session.
“On the water budget, a solution has already been found. We no longer need to return to it,” replied Siteny Randrianasoloniaiko, referring to a meeting with officials from the relevant department in the morning. Faced with the insistence of the deputies, he added, “If you want us to increase the water budget, we will do it.”
The head of the Lower House, however, did not specify what this solution found for the water budget was. Some officials, such as deputy Razara Pierre, requested that the amendments be clarified when the time came to vote on the amended finance bill. Ultimately, after seven and a half hours of debate, the budgetary text was voted on chapter by chapter without going into details. Until the end of the session, it was not indicated exactly what the status of the water budget was.
Garry Fabrice Ranaivoson
Captured & Published at: 2026-06-23 06:00:03 (Madagascar Local Time EAT)
Original Source: https://www.lexpress.mg/2026/06/loi-de-finances-rectificative-confusion.html