By Pemphero Malimba:
Various players have reacted to the mid-year budget presentation which Finance Minister Simplex Chithyola Banda made to Parliament on Wednesday.
In his presentation, Chithyola Banda indicated that the budget had jumped from K6.04 trillion to K5.99 trillion. He said, among other things, the government had removed a waiver on some government officials who were being exempted from paying Value Added Tax (Vat) when buying vehicles. According to the minister, the officials include the President, Vice President, Cabinet ministers and members of Parliament.
He said this was one way of generating funds for the government.
However, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) representative Joseph Mwanamvekha described the budget as unrealistic.
“It’s not realistic and it’s also full of lies, as they have always done, as they are making false promises. We have observed that they have never met the assumptions they make in the budget. We have noted that the report by the minister is saying that expenditure has increased and revenue has come down.
“Just in the first half [of the fiscal year], they have a deficit of K464 billion. It means that, as I predicted last time, the budget was unrealistic. They will never meet what they promised in that budget and what they have said here is a true reflection of what I said in my response last time—when they presented the budget in March,” Mwanamvekha said.
He said the budget had proven that the country continued to spend more than it had in the public kitty.
“If you have noted, most of the expenditure has gone to consumption and not development because development activities are only constituting 14 percent of the total budget. In other words, we are a more consuming nation than producing one and we are not pushing forward, in terms of development activities,” he said.
On his part, Civil Society Education Coalition Executive Director Benedicto Kondowe called for transparency and accountability in the management of public resources.
Kondowe observed that adjustments made in the budget may not be inadequate if funds are not used accordingly.
He was, however, upbeat that “things will improve” following the announcement of the removal of the waiver..
Taking his turn, health rights activist Maziko Matemba said he expected the government to fulfil commitments made through the mid-term budget review.
“Some of the changes in the health sector include the adjustment of the budget to include the payment of salaries for health workers who have been paid by international organisations. As you know, the government made a commitment that, during the first years, partners would be paying salaries and, thereafter, the government would take over,” Matemba said.
He also expressed optimism that the government would walk the talk on its pledge to complete the construction of healthcare service facilities across the country.
“We have heard that various health facilities, including the cancer centre, will be completed soon. So, we are happy with the assurance made by the Minister of Finance. We will be waiting and monitoring the situation,” Matemba said.
0 Comments