PMRC official gives budget tips
By MAILESI BANDA THE 2018 budget should be responsive to the Seventh National Development Plan for it to attain economic development, Policy and Monitoring Research Centre (PMRC), head of research and analysis, Salim Kaunda has said.
Mr. Kaunda said the design of the 7NDP was different from that of the budget in view of the development outcomes, adding that what was expected was that the 7NDP guided the national budget implementations.
Speaking in an interview with the Daily Nation, Mr. Kaunda said the budget could be guided by the 7NDP in terms of how funds could be allocated to the various sectors.
“The 2018 National budget should be responsive to the key program as stipulated in the 7NDP since the development of the plan and the national economic recovery plan is important to the implementation of a budget that will attain economic development,” Mr. Kaunda said.
He said government should continue in its efforts in the recovery plan with more strategies of home grown recovery solutions which once utilized could be used to fund the budget.
“The home grown recovery plan should continue and should be implemented side by side with the development plan since it has a bearing on the budget and the plan since issues such as those of repayment have a bearing on the budget as when not sorted out timely could affect the budget,” Mr. Kaunda said.
He advised the government to reduce unbudgetted for expenditure and ensure that all the funds being spent where budgetted for so that everything was on the budget line.