On Friday 28th September 2018, the Minister of Finance, Honourable Margaret D. Mwanakatwe, and MP delivered the 2019 Budget address to the National Assembly under the theme “Delivering Fiscal Consolidation for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth”. The 2019 National Budget was formulated against the backdrop of the austerity measures being implemented by Government to deliver fiscal consolidation. Among several observations, the budget proposes bold and substantial changes in revenue mobilisation and spending strategies in support of the goal for fiscal consolidation. The budget is aligned to the Economic Stabilization and Growth Programme, the Seventh National Development Plan (7NDP), and the vision of becoming a prosperous middle- income country by 2030.
PMRC has since produced the 2019 National Budget analysis, which explains key aspects of the Budget in all the 5 pillars of the Seventh National Development Plan and further provides recommendations to aid with the implementation of the Budget
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PMRC presentation to Parliamentary Committee on Budget Estimates
The discussions bordered around;
- Fiscal Consolidation for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth.
- The specific macroeconomic objectives for 2019.
- Major observations on Education, Health and Agriculture allocation
- The 5 pillars of the Seventh National Development Plan
Among other points, PMRC submitted that for the 2019 Budget implementation to score above 70% success,
- Government must enforce and improve public finance management and curbing the misuse of public resources
- Government must take a decisive position on reducing on debt contraction and put in place a stringent debt management mechanism that would be transparent, accountable and participatory
- All spending Agencies must adhere to budget provisions as stipulated and there should be strict financial management at all levels.
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According to the Seventh National Development Plan (7NDP), the agriculture sector is the fourth largest contributor to GDP (8.7 percent) and the largest contributor to employment (70 percent). The sector is critical for achieving diversification, economic growth and wealth creation in Zambia. One major component of the agriculture sector is the e-Voucher programme which was introduced in the 2016/17 farming season a er a successful pilot season in 2015/2016 farming season.
The fisheries sub-sector in Zambia plays a significant role in the economy as it offers an opportunity for improved nutrition, income generation and job creation, resulting in general wealth creation and food security at national and household levels. At national level, the fisheries sub-sector contributes approximately 3.2% to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (Second Agricultural Policy , 2016). Given the abundant water resources that Zambia has, the fisheries sub-sector has been identified as one of the avenues for agriculture and general economic diversification through enhanced and efficient capture fisheries and fish farming. At household level, the fisheries sub-sector is identified as one of the sectors that can provide additional protein. In addition to other sources such as livestock and crops, fish accounts for about 40% of protein intake in rural areas. This sector is key in efforts towards scaling up nutrition levels, food security and income generation. At household level, the fisheries sector contributes to household income through fishing activities as an income generating activity in some parts of the country.
Zambia’s tourism sector has been identified as one of the key economic sectors for diversification of the economy. Government and key stakeholders recognize the potential the sector has in contributing to the economy through job creation, foreign exchange earning, contributions to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and other economic facets. The sector’s potential to contribute to the economy has not however been fully unlocked due to a number of impediments. Some of these include delays in policy and legislative reforms and administrative and structural reforms.
In February 2017, the Government of the Republic of Zambia launched the National Tourism Policy of 2015. The delayed launch of the policy was attributed to the interruptions in the review process, in the form of various national events such as the successive presidential, parliamentary, and local government elections and others. The aim of reviewing the policy was to present stakeholders’ views in light of the changing trends in the tourism sector and also to reposition the sector as one of the county’s major economic contributors. This followed the recognition and reclassification of the tourism sector from a social sector to an economic sector. The revised policy is aimed at ensuring the tourism sector contributes to job creation, foreign exchange earnings Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and poverty reduction through wealth creation. Additionally, the policy is meant to provide a strategic framework for sustainable tourism development intended to ensure the sector realizes its full potential (Ministry of Tourism and Arts, 2015).
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On 19th July 2018, the Minister of Finance,Honourable Margaret D. Mwanakatwe, MP, provided the midyear economic brief to update the nation on the following subject matters:
- Recent Economic Development
- Policy and Structural Reforms Measures
- Implications of Austerity Measures
- IMF Programme
Overview: Improving the performance of the electricity sector in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries is a long-standing agenda, going back to the 1990s. The early approach was to attempt to implement a set of ‘standard’ or ‘textbook’ reforms based on economic theory and experience in countries.
Introduction Improving the performance of the electricity sector in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries is a long-standing agenda, going back to the 1990s (Besant-Jones 2006, Jamasb et al 2017, Kessides 2012). At that time, the electricity sectors in most African countries were state-owned and run as parastatals, and were characterised by low levels of access, unreliable service, high energy losses, capacity shortfalls, heavily subsidised pricing structures, poor financial performance of utilities and a lack of resources to improve and extend services.