CSPR urges govt to eliminate supplementary budget requests

CSPR urges govt to eliminate supplementary budget requests
By Kabanda Chulu in Kitwe
Fri 02 Apr. 2010, 04:01 CAT

CIVIL Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) has challenged the government to eliminate or considerably reduce the level of supplementary budget requests and diversion of funds from original intentions to other purposes.

According to the sectoral analysis of Zambia’s fiscal policies and trends between 2006 and 2010 that was conducted by consultants Robert Sichinga and Isaac Ngoma on behalf of the CSPR, actual expenditures had always been under expended against the original budgets leading to unfulfilled programmes and budgets.

“Expenditure budgets have always had supplementaries, for example, in 2009, government had a projection of K15.2 trillion but by the end of the year, K1.6 trillion was approved as supplementary budget. The projections have always risen in total, year on year, from a figure of K10.8 trillion in 2006 to a projected K16.7 trillion in 2010,” it stated.

“However, the nominal increases have not kept pace with the level of inflation which at the end of 2008, stood at 16.4 per cent and 9.9 per cent at the end of 2009 hence government must eliminate or at least considerably reduce the level of supplementary budget requests and diversion of funds from original intentions to other purposes.”

It stated that combined personal emoluments 33.2 per cent and recurrent departmental charges 24.9 per cent, consumed 58.1 per cent of the entire 2006 budget, which rose to 70.9 per cent in 2008.

“The 2009 and 2010 budgets have similar levels of expenditure for running the administration of the government and this level is excessive and leaves very little for the development of capital projects,” stated the report.

It is hoped that the outcomes from the study conducted by the CSPR, which was released in Kitwe, will generate urgent responsive action by the authorities concerned and stimulate civil society to get more involved in matters of budget implementation and parliamentary oversight.