The 2016 National Budget presented by Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa yesterday has received a lukewarm response, amid concerns it did not address the problems facing ordinary Zimbabweans.
By TATIRA ZWINOIRA
Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators president Lovemore Kadenge said he did not see the ordinary person benefiting, while there could be something for farmers.
“The minister never mentioned anything about bonuses, unless it is tucked somewhere. There is nothing meaningful there,” he said.
“For the ordinary person, I did not see much, except farmers, as government now has taken over Cottco.
“The issue of giving free inputs to the farmers is very difficult to understand, unless he is politicking because the government does not have the resources.
“Where are they going to get the resources? The minister does not seem to come up with measures to tell us where he is going to get the resources if not politicking.”
Kadenge said government was facing liquidity challenges, making it difficult to plan ahead.
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Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya said there was need for discipline.
“What you require in this economy is discipline, discipline to show that in this economy you can do much better than the $4 billion budget,” he said. “That is not a budget for Zimbabwe. We need to improve on our discipline so that at the end of the day, you improve on productivity.”
Business analyst Zack Murerwa said the budget was static.
“The budget is a bit on the static side in terms of revenue because there is nothing you can do when your revenue side is down,” he said. “Basically, it is an intervention budget. One has to be realistic, growth in the southern region is far much higher than than 2,7% (forecast gross domestic product growth) for next year.”
Murerwa said there was need to look at the economy relative to the revenue available. “At the end of the day, one needs to be very realistic about that. The budget requires drivers and people who are committed and we hope that legislators and people in the Executive will drive the programme,” he said.
