Pro-poor, pro-youth budget on the cards Prof Mthuli Ncube

Leonard Ncube in Victoria Falls
THE 2022 pre-budget seminar ended in Victoria Falls yesterday with line ministries proposing a combined budget expenditure of over $3 trillion against Treasury’s maximum envelope of $900 billion.

Wrapping up the pre-budget seminar yesterday, Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube said he will present the national budget on November 25 and will strive to make it a pro-poor and pro-youth budget in line with aspirations of citizens as captured during the consultation period.

The seminar started on Saturday and Prof Ncube commended legislators and other stakeholders for showing commitment during the period.

“This was probably the best retreat session we have had in the last few years and we will take these submissions seriously in our 2022 national budget formulation process. I am excited not only by the quality of contributions, but by diversity of views which shows there was wide consultations of views of people who are here to serve and this will give us policy on which we will anchor the budget.

“This will make the forthcoming budget a people driven budget, which will be easy to implement,” said Prof Ncube.
He said he will seriously put into consideration recommendations for the budget to be pro-poor to stick to the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) mantra that no one should be left behind.

Prof Ncube said the 2022 budget will endeavour to ensure that all key priority areas are resourced to the greatest extent possible to respond to the needs of the people.

“Looking at the bids for 2022 versus the budget envelope, Mr Speaker Sir, most presentations by ministries lamented inadequacy. Most bids are 100 percent higher than the proposed ceilings. As I have always highlighted, our capacity to finance expenditures will continue to depend on the revenue generation capacity in the economy and our ability to borrow sustainably.

“Against this background, our overall 2022 budget envelope is $900 billion. However, my last count of the bids submitted by line ministries indicate resource requirement in excess of $3 trillion. So, we have to try to fit in everything within the $900 billion. Surely this is beyond our capacity and more fundamentally posing challenges from a prioritisation point of view,” he said.

Legislators and various portfolio committees expressed concern about delays in disbursement of budgets and slow procurement processes, which Prof Ncube said will be addressed.

“I take all recommendations and contributions made by the people of Zimbabwe through this Parliament and will be used in the national budget. Our plan is to table the 2022 national budget on Thursday 25th November and we feel this gives us enough time to conclude the process just before Christmas. I acknowledge and appreciate the current challenges and we will work harder on it, but we should be more efficient and effective in the use of available resources,” said Prof Ncube.

He, however, expressed concern that some line ministries and legislators had failed to utilise their budget allocations for the current budget year.

On a case-by-case basis, Prof Ncube said the budget will endeavour to fund agriculture, infrastructure development, education, vulnerable groups, public service needs such as salaries, manufacturing industry capacitation, transport, health, including family planning, developing sporting facilities and prioritisation of youths needs, among other areas, as well as development of the Victoria Falls Master Plan as proposed by Parliament. – @ncubeleon

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