National Budget Effectiveness worries the Opposition

Fresh calls have been made casting doubts about the expected success of the 2.8 trillion-kwacha national budget which was passed yesterday in parliament.

This comes barely a day Parliamentarians approved the national financial plan which will run until 31st March 2023.

The passing of the Budget, came after the House has scrutinized allocations going towards government ministries, Departments, and Agencies.

Earlier on, Sosten Gwengwe, minister of finance expressed excitement and congratulated the House for passing the Budget.

He has since expressed optimism that the Budget will be implemented.

‘’We have done a bug task today and every budget is measured by the extent to which it is implemented. That is why we as the government has planned to extensively implement this budget’’ said Gwengwe.

Adding its voice to the calls,  spokesperson for Opposition DPP on matters of finance Joseph Mwanamvekha has expressed doubts that the Budget will be implemented, citing the struggling economy as the reason.

He has since described the Budget as a weaker one.

One of the highlights of the national budget was the scrapping off of a 16.5 % VAT on cooking oil.

In the budget, Gwengwe said government anticipates a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 4.1 percent and 4.0 percent in 2023, average inflation of 9.1 percent, a policy rate of 12.0 percent, and tax refunds of 3.0 percent of total tax revenue collection.

The minister also said the government will aim to entrench macro-economic stability, enhance the country’s resilience to external shocks, and fast-track economic recovery during the post-Covid-19 pandemic period.