The
National Budget is a critical economic instrument which the Government can use
to drive and impact the well-being of its citizens. A budget is a government document presenting
the government's proposed revenues and spending for a financial year that is
often passed by the legislature, approved by the executive and presented by the
Finance and Economic Development Minister to the nation as a
proposal of revenues and expenditures a government expects for a given fiscal
year.
Misheck Gondo
The
budget has to spell out the government priorities in reduction of poverty and
championing economic growth, it gives a clear outline on the projections of
revenue and expenditure which the government will be anticipating to receive
and expend the following year.
As
2014 draws to an end it is a very important time were the Ministry of Finance
and Economic Development will be conducting consultations on the 2015 National
Budget, as the economy faces various challenges such as the liquidity crunch,
unemployment which is being exacerbated by the daily closure of companies among
others; an indicator of how the 2014 National Budget failed to address
critical economic issues. The Minister should swim with reality set aside
political pre-amble but take onside key economic catalysts that drive the
economy to a developmental victory.
The
budget should be a pinnacle towards addressing income disparities between the
poor and the rich through enactment of favorable policies and proposal, as
progressive tax reforms. In Zimbabwe most people earn below the poverty datum
line according to ZimStat (2013), therefore the budget should specify tax
exemption strategy for those below the datum line bracket.
The
National Budget can be a tool to drive the economy if done and supported with
positive economic and political sense; taking into account critical pillars
that are key to the economy and at the same time the government needs to be
realistic on its statistical data on various priority areas.
A
good example of unrealistic prediction on statistical data is the recently published
rate of unemployment in Zimbabwe which they peg at 11(%) percent, if the government
uses such dangerous prediction, it will result in pseudo policies that do not
address the actual needs of people, it will be a political statement; showing a
picture that Zimbabwe has a lower unemployment rate yet in the actual sense it’s
above 80 percent.
The
key priority areas such as Agriculture, Education, Health and Micro Economic
Policy and Trade Relations should be given attention in 2015 National Budget.
Agriculture is the pillar and the backbone of our economy, the Poverty Income
Consumption and Expenditure Survey of 2011/12 indicated that about 68.2% are in
rural areas and depend on Agriculture for food and income.
According
to Maputo Declaration the Agricultural Sector should receive at least 10%
attention of the national budget, in 2014 the budget only allocated 3.8 % which
was far beyond reality. Zimbabwe also needs to fully align the SADC Regional
Agricultural Policy (RAP) with other frameworks such as Zimbabwe Agricultural
Policy Frameworks, Climate Change Policy and Strategic Action Plan (CCP).
Practically
the budget must give adequate support to farmers based on clear business models
that are premised on efficiency and profitability.
Education
should also be a center in 2015 budget in line with Dakar Declaration that
stipulates the need for a at least 20% allocation to education in every budget,
however in the 2014 National budget, Zimbabwe surpassed the 20% mark and
allocated 29 %, a positive move on paper, but there is need to evaluate if the
allocated budgetary requirement has been received by the sector, also the
salary to programs ratio has to be analyzed before we celebrate the surpassing
standard.
Attention
in education should also be centered on the new Constitution Section 27 that
calls for free education at primary level. In addition, the need to adequately
resource the BEAM to ensures access to education by all children especially
orphans and vulnerable. There is need to avail resources for construction and
rehabilitation of educational infrastructure especially in rural and resettled
areas.
At
tertiary level, many poor families cannot afford college tuition and related
cost; the government should prioritize re-introducing grants to students.
The
teachers are said to do community service to the nation with regard to their
remuneration which need attention as one of the requirements to improve the
quality of education in the country.
We
need a healthy nation, the government should give adequate support to the health
sector with regard to maternal health (free maternal care), reduce child
mortality, combating HIV and AIDS, malaria and avail more resources to fight
non communicable diseases such as cancer, diabetes among others, as enshrined
in Abuja Declaration which calls for the availing of at least 15 % of the
national budget to the health sector. The Ministry of Health has endorsed the
rise of health fees in an economy where people are failing to bring food on
their tables; this is an anti-poor strategy that requires urgent correction.
Trade
relations are fundamental in International Relations; there is need for policy
shift especially on Indigenization in order to accommodate foreign direct
investment(FDI) which is a key factor in boosting the economy. The country must
establish and maintain policies conducive for microeconomic stability and align
the country’s micro economic policies with SADC Trade Protocol and the SADC
Protocol on Free Movement of Persons as a measure to support the SADC Common market;
a strategy to increase access to a larger market to local industry.
The
challenges that our economy is facing can be a thing of the past if the
government show political will, support its blue print such as ZIMASSET with
enough resources backed by genuine policies which come from wider consultations,
stick to the culture of adherence to the budget, strict alignment of all
expenditures to disbursements, debt management- cash budget principle,
eradicate corruption, support industrial growth, set measures to manage imports to maintain an even playing field with regards
to cheap imports and above all guided by the universal principles such as: rule
of law, democracy , good governance and respect for human dignity, and by this, there is assurance of achieving
pro-poor development.
Let’s
wait and see
Misheck
is an International Relations Expert with University of Zimbabwe
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