How the state budget is adopted, step by step

It starts inside government. The finance ministry gathers spending requests from other ministries, arbitrates them under the prime minister’s authority, and builds a draft consistent with expected revenue. This internal arbitration is the least visible stage of the process, and probably the most decisive.

The draft is then adopted in cabinet and tabled in parliament. Only at that point does it become public and open to debate. Before tabling, figures circulate but bind no one.

In the National Assembly, the relevant committee examines the text, hears ministers and proposes amendments. Floor debate follows, article by article. Members can move appropriations around, but their room is constrained: they cannot create spending without offsetting revenue.

The Senate then examines the text. Where the two chambers disagree, a joint committee seeks a compromise; failing that, the National Assembly decides. The adopted text is promulgated and becomes the finance act for the year.

Knowing where a budget sits in this circuit is what allows the news to be read correctly. A figure announced before tabling is an intention; the same figure after the vote is a legal obligation. The two do not deserve equal weight.