By: Fatou Krubally
The National Assembly is set to receive the 2027 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure on September 25, marking the formal start of consideration of next year’s national budget during its upcoming Third and Fourth Ordinary Sessions.
The Finance and Economic Affairs Minister is scheduled to lay the estimates before the Assembly as part of the combined sessions, which will run from September 7 to October 29, 2026.
Speaking at a press briefing on Thursday, Speaker Fabakary Tombong Jatta said the extended session would place strong emphasis on the scrutiny of public funds, legislative reforms and the approval of the 2027 national budget.
He said the Assembly’s oversight work would begin with an Oral Ministerial Statement from the Finance Minister on the implementation and monitoring of the current annual budget.
The Assembly is also expected to consider ministerial replies to a number of reports, including the Finance and Public Accounts Committee’s report on the Auditor General’s Reports for the 2021 to 2024 financial years.
Reports concerning state-owned enterprises, including NAWEC, SSHFC and GPA, as well as the management of land registration and documentation, are also listed for consideration.
Speaker Jatta said these debates would help ensure that public institutions are held to high standards of accountability.
The legislative agenda will also include several Bills, among them the Intellectual Property Bill, the Cybercrime Bill and the Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill.
On the budget, the Speaker said the laying of the 2027 Estimates on September 25 would be followed by committee consultations and further consideration before the final stages of the budget process.
The official Assembly agenda provides for a pre-budget retreat from September 26 to 28, followed by consultations by Assembly committees with portfolio ministries and other stakeholders from October 1 to 7.
Debate on the 2027 Estimates and the Finance and Public Accounts Committee’s consolidated report is scheduled for October 12 and 13, followed by the Committee of Supply on October 14 and 15.
The Appropriation Bill, 2027, which will authorise government expenditure for the coming fiscal year, is scheduled for consideration later in October.
Speaker Jatta described the budget process as an expression of the Assembly’s constitutional “power of the purse”, stressing its importance to good governance.
Clerk of the National Assembly Kalipha M.M. Mbye said the Assembly Service had completed the necessary procedural and administrative preparations for the sessions.
He said official documents, Order Papers, committee reports and procedural clarifications would continue to be made available to the media in a timely manner. The sessions are scheduled to conclude on October 29, with the Motion on Adjournment.