Budget deficit a sign of lack of political will

Looking at the budget that was presented by Patrick Chinamasa it lacks merit and tolerance of divergence of views. What Chinamasa should have done is to have a broader consultation to all stakeholders including civic society, students, academics, business people and politicians so that views will be broader. We have a serious problem as a nation, we have leaders who are intolerant and who can't accept any advice given to them, as if this country is their personal property. Treasury has a lot of structural gaps which needs to be addressed urgently. We need political maturity when dealing with national matters. Chinamasa was supposed to reach a consensus with stakeholders so that they come up with a collective blueprint for the sake of the nation.

Borrowing

Chinamasa never made it clear who is financing the budget deficit? This year alone we had arrears of more than 400 million and who financed the 400 million to fill the gap of budget deficit? Speculation is rife that Zimbabwe has borrowed more than 2.5 billion to finance salaries for civil servants. There is already an imbalance announced by Chinamasa yesterday. Revenue collections were pegged at 4.1 billion but treasury managed to collect 3.7 billion so meaning we have arrears of 400 million. My question will then be who is financing the arrears of 400 million meaning Chinamasa is not telling the nation the truth, its either they borrowed that money somewhere or they took from strategic reserve funds that are meant for projects and development. We have a problem with this Government because they want to eat what they did not kill, instead of addressing issues that can improve revenue collections they are busy borrowing funds from financial lenders.

Production Sector

What Zimbabwe needs is relaxing of certain policies such as empowerment laws and the statutory instrument 106 so that we can increase the FDI (FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT). There are so many credit lines that can be opened for use but they come with a condition. We need to increase our capacity to produce and at the she time to increase the export market. Currently we have a problem because the statutory instrument only benefitted the Zanu Pf chefs and the political connected only but the majority of Zimbabweans are languishing in poverty. We need a viable production sector. Our manufacturing sector is dead as we speak, we need capital injection as to improve our production sector. The budget is useless document because how do you finance the production sector without capital injection, we have so many debts and we have not paid back so far.

Misuse of Public Funds Meant for Development

Chinamasa was supposed to talk about corruption and how the Government should address that. We have so many serious financial leakages in the treasury, which has created financial imbalances. We have corruption at ZIMDEF, ZESA, POTRAZ, ZESA, NRZ, MMCZ, ZMDC, NETONE and the Dema project and my question as a development analyst who will close those financial gaps? The minister of finance is responsible for disbursement of public funds and its expenditure and this shows that he is failing the nation by not even mentioning any single word on corruption.

Export Facility (5%) As an Incentive

There are several unanswered questions pertaining to the 5% incentive facility unveiled by RBZ for exporters. Who are those involved in export markets? Who benefits from that facility? Does this facility improve the revenue collections? How does this facility add value to the shrinking market? Our unemployment rate is standing at 95% and majority of the Zimbabweans are not involved in export markets so how does the facility benefit ordinary Zimbabweans? This budget was supposed to be pro- poor budget. The majority of people who are involved in export markets are Zanu Pf ministers and senior government officials and to make matters worse their companies are not remitting taxes even their farms, they are not paying utility bills such electricity and water bills. That is why our municipal authorities are in serious debts and budgets deficits. We need facilities that benefit ordinary Zimbabweans. As far as I'm concerned we are heading for tougher times because so long Zimbabwean issues are not addressed the economy remains a major problem.

Ghost Workers on the Payroll

Our Government is struggling to pay civil servants on time because treasury resources are limited. We have a limited fiscal space. Chinamasa should have addressed that issue. We have more than 60 000 ghost workers purportedly to be known as youth officers. These youth officers are the same people who will bit people during the election campaigns. This should be addressed. We cannot have a situation were by tax payer's money will fund Zanu Pf activities at the expense of the nation. We need a disciplined regime, which must live within its own means.

Tinashe Eric Muzamhindo writes in his personal opinion as the Director of Mentorship Institute of National Development and Sustainability. MINDS is a civic society organization responsible for policy research, gender and development studies, public finance, sustainable development through Agriculture and rural development. He is also a consultant in Development and Capacity Development and Institutional Building. He can be contacted at greatorminds@gmail.com