World Bank Country Representative, Kapil Kapoor, says he is happy with the the 2010 national budget presented yesterday afternoon to Parliament by Finance Minister, Situmbeko Musokotwane.
Mr Kapoor told ZANIS in an interview in Lusaka that the 2010 budget was impressive.
He added that the change in the financial cycle of the budget would reduce the pressure of putting the budget into effect.
Mr Kapoor, however, said he is worried with the decline in revenue as indicated in the 2010 national budget.
He urged government to increase the national budgetary allocation of different sectors, saying it is difficult to run a nation with such financial constraints.[quote]
Mr Kapoor said it is worrying to note that 50 per cent of the budgetary allocation goes to salaries and personal emoluments.
He explained that at the end of the day there is not so much left for developmental issues issues.
Mr Kapoor also observed that the increase in the cost of petroleum products will result in the increase of transportation of major agricultural products.
And Bank of Zambia (BoZ) governor, Caleb Fundanga, has welcomed the 2010 national budget, adding that Zambia performed well in 2009 despite the global economic crunch down.
Dr Fundanga says government’s efforts should be commended for projecting a 4.1 per cent economic growth for next year.
Dr Fundanga said in an interview with ZANIS shortly after the budget was presented that government needs to maintain the good policies despite passing through difficult economic conditions.
And former Finance and National Planning Minister, Ngandu Magande, said Zambia requires to sit down with its cooperating partners to mend the economic gaps arising from deficits mainly through exports.
Mr Magande explained that there is need to address the down-fall of revenue targets and diversify from copper, noting that the mining of copper is Zambia’s main export for its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
He further welcomed the budget change cycle, saying he proposed it when he was a Cabinet Minister because Zambia needed to offset the huge debt Zambia had experienced.
Mr Magande, however, commended his predecessor for achieving $1.8 billion national reserves and quickly admitted that it was difficult to score it during his six-year tenure of office.
ZANIS
i would be happy too if this was my work. point being, that these are the wrong chaps to ask about this since they obviously participated in the budget preparation. Lets go into the streets and ask the ordinary Zambian, the manufacturer, the service provider, the industry associations.Â
Misleading heading, these people are VERY SAD.
VERY misleading heading indeed.
What is the LT trying to achieve. Are they a mouth piece of the government? Of late it seems more likely.
Sad tha the Budget does not help any Zambian at all.The GRZ are only helping invester situation
The more we look at the budget, the less we know about how the money will actually be spent.
Ba LT, this report is not true. Very soon Magande will refute this report!
government can be more aggressive with growth forecasts. 4% agricultural growth rate won’t lift zambians out of poverty especially considering 85% of our arable land is farmed. I would be more happy to hear them say they want to reduce that un-farmed land to 60% in the next 10 years. That should lift agricultural production to decent levels. Come on, zambia!
When they are happy it’s sad news for us.
magande shud sue the lusaka times for accusing him for being in support with the budget. the heading is very misleading. the budget is an old record thats why musokotwane failed to change the theme of the budget this year instead he used last years theme.
If World bank is happy,then there is definitely something wrong with the budget.the budget wont benefit Zambians.those chaps cannot be trusted
I can not imagine any of these guys saying anything to the contrary
# 10. You are right. Who the hell cares what the World Bank thinks, after all we all know what they are all about.
There is an interesting book called “The confessions of an economic hitman” by John Perkins that will help put all that has happened since independence into perspective. We will never be free until we are rid of this usury/debt based financial system. We know we have a rigged political system – you only have 1 coin – either heads or tails. We have economic system that enslaves our unborn children. And have ‘indoctrinated’ students of voodoo science called economics telling us, the hoi poloi, to believe things are getting better or things could have been worse. As they say, it is better to light a candle than curse the darkness. What have I done today to chase away this darkness engulfing our beautiful country? What have you done? What is it gonna be at the death bed? life well spent?