By ALICE NACHILEMBE
The Zambia Tax Platform (ZTP) has urged Zambians to protect public resource through prudent management of public resources in the country.
Zambia Tax Platform Coordinator Ibrahim Kamara said the platform has noted with increasing concern, the fiscal standing of the country and spending by Government on programs that may not address the country’s priority needs.
Mr Kamara said it is important that public expenditure in the country conforms to certain principles that will ensure economic growth while addressing the needs of the people.
He said Public expenditure, if properly executed, has the potential to reduce poverty and other developmental challenges.
Mr Kamara ZTP wonders the criteria Government used to select only civil servants to benefit while many other Zambians continue to face their debt problems unilaterally.
He said falls short on many other public expenditure tenets Its effectiveness to cure the underlying problem is questionable.
“There is need to explain to the people how the debt swap has been financed as this is not an expenditure component that was budgeted in the 2021 national budget while the Government has claimed that the talks around a debt swap started as early as 2020,” he said.
Mr Kamara has urged policy makers and implementers to be transparent and sincere to the Zambian people.
He said It is critical that public expenditure targets the achievement of economic objectives both in the short and long term.
