News / National
Zanu-PF militia layoff to save $30m
14 Dec 2017 at 00:13hrs | Views
THE retrenchment of more than 3 000 youth officers will cut Government expenditure on salaries by $30 million a year, resources which will be channelled towards development projects, an economic consultant has said.
Finance and Economic Development Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, last week presented the 2018 National Budget in which he announced a number of strategies to be employed to reduce the public sector wage bill.
These included the retrenchment of 3 700 youth officers, retirement of civil servants aged 65 and above and abolishment of unnecessary foreign trips among other strategies.
Speaking during a 2018 National Budget review conference organised by The Chronicle in Bulawayo on Tuesday, economic analyst and consultant, Dr Nyasha Kaseke, said the retrenchment of 3 700 youth officers was a good move for the economy.
"Cutting the number of youth officers that had been deployed with no designation was a good decision made by the Government. These youths were taking about $1,6 million monthly in salaries," said Dr Kaseke.
"Cumulatively this was more than $30 million per year, which was an unnecessary burden on the Government. We're looking forward to the achievement of a sound budget through the retrenchment of the youth officers, abolishment of unnecessary foreign trips, reducing foreign missions as well as early retirement of civil servants."
Dr Kaseke said the austerity measures proposed in the 2018 budget were progressive and crucial to averting a budget deficit, which has characterised previous administrations. He applauded Minister Chinamasa for reducing the number of foreign missions saying some were not relevant. Dr Kaseke said the measures announced by Minister Chinamasa were long overdue as he applauded Government for taking bold steps to restore confidence in the economy.
"We have to look at how much revenue we're taking in and how much is going. Issues to do with corruption and amendment of the indigenisation policy, which is one of the major reasons deterring investors from coming into Zimbabwe, are also important in reducing fiscal expenditure.
"In the agricultural sector, we were losing more than $200 million in importing soya beans yet we have a lot of land to produce the crop. Parastatal reforms are also another important issue. Some parastatals need to be privatised," said Dr Kaseke.
Finance and Economic Development Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, last week presented the 2018 National Budget in which he announced a number of strategies to be employed to reduce the public sector wage bill.
These included the retrenchment of 3 700 youth officers, retirement of civil servants aged 65 and above and abolishment of unnecessary foreign trips among other strategies.
Speaking during a 2018 National Budget review conference organised by The Chronicle in Bulawayo on Tuesday, economic analyst and consultant, Dr Nyasha Kaseke, said the retrenchment of 3 700 youth officers was a good move for the economy.
"Cutting the number of youth officers that had been deployed with no designation was a good decision made by the Government. These youths were taking about $1,6 million monthly in salaries," said Dr Kaseke.
"Cumulatively this was more than $30 million per year, which was an unnecessary burden on the Government. We're looking forward to the achievement of a sound budget through the retrenchment of the youth officers, abolishment of unnecessary foreign trips, reducing foreign missions as well as early retirement of civil servants."
Dr Kaseke said the austerity measures proposed in the 2018 budget were progressive and crucial to averting a budget deficit, which has characterised previous administrations. He applauded Minister Chinamasa for reducing the number of foreign missions saying some were not relevant. Dr Kaseke said the measures announced by Minister Chinamasa were long overdue as he applauded Government for taking bold steps to restore confidence in the economy.
"We have to look at how much revenue we're taking in and how much is going. Issues to do with corruption and amendment of the indigenisation policy, which is one of the major reasons deterring investors from coming into Zimbabwe, are also important in reducing fiscal expenditure.
"In the agricultural sector, we were losing more than $200 million in importing soya beans yet we have a lot of land to produce the crop. Parastatal reforms are also another important issue. Some parastatals need to be privatised," said Dr Kaseke.
Source - chronicle
