Lubinda expresses disappointment over 2011 budget

Lubinda expresses disappointment over 2011 budget
By Kombe Chimpinde
Mon 11 Oct. 2010, 14:01 CAT

KABWATA PF member of parliament Given Lubinda has the government has lost another opportunity to utilize its mineral resources to cover most of its national expenditure. And Lubinda described finance minister Dr Situtembeko Musokotwane ‘s 2011 budget after it was presented to parliament on Friday as disappointing.

“Dr Musokotwane had a very big problem writing that budget and had a big problem reading it because that budget is clearly a campaign budget,” Lubinda said. “To drive the campaign of Rupiah Banda in 2011 that’s the reason why you heard him struggling with the level of detail to which he was presenting the budget. However we have missed an opportunity of raising sufficient domestic resources to finance the huge expenditure they are intending to have in 2011.”

He said it was only logical to subject the country’s mining sector to appropriate taxation because it was the most productive sector at the moment.

“…the minister in one hand told us that the mining sector is doing extremely well producing the highest tonnage of copper in many years and yet shying away from taxing the mine. Now that is imprudent budgeting,” Lubinda said.

“And that’s the reason why you see that they have increased the amount of domestic borrowing. Financial borrowing will have a negative impact on our financial sector as it would crowd out the private sector. What more when they have also reduced the amount of money available for the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission from K120 billion that was allocated last year to a meager K40 billion.”

He observed that the private sector was going to denied access to affordable funds.

“...in a nutshell it is a very disappointing budget. The sector is the one that is the most productive and the one which is remitting the highest turn instead they have decided to go and tax somewhere else,” said Lubinda.