…Mwanakatwe says the removal of subsidies is paying off
By NAMUTENGA KALUNGA
Finance Minister Margaret Mwanakatwe says K4.8 billion has been released to productive sectors such as agriculture and to social sectors such as education, health, and public welfare.
Ms Mwanakatwe said the timely release of funds is due to the removal of consumption subsidies and austerity measures that government has put in place.
Commenting on the 2018 budget releases Minister of finance, Ms Mwanakatwe said for the first time in a long time the treasury has not lagged behind in releasing the Constituency Development fund (CDF).
She said the timely disbursement of funds would enable Members of Parliament and other stakeholders to have an opportunity to focus on community initiatives using the released CDF resources once the 2019 budget would be approved.
The Minister said of the K4.8 billion total funding for November 2018, capital expenditure totaled K422.9 million, of which K193.2 million was for payment towards continued works and completion of road projects across the country.
The K10.6 million went towards the Rural Electrification programme, and K49.8 million for other capital expenditure programmes across the nation.
“In order to continue reducing the country’s indebtedness and ensure fiscal sustainability as projected in the Economic Stabilization and Growth Programme [ESGP] and the Medium Term Debt Strategy [MTDS], the Government released a sum of K942 million in November 2018 for payments towards both domestic and external debt obligations.”
“For the purpose of clarity, the Ministry of Finance wishes to state that some of the funds from the K458.7 million were allocated to the process of dismantling outstanding bills under the FISP programme. The total amount released towards the FISP programme now stands at K1.74 billion from January 2018 to end November, 2018,”she said.
She said Ministries, Provinces and other controlling Government bodies should remain instrumental in actualizing Governments’ vision of developing the country by ensuring that there is prudence in the management and utilization of public resources at all times.
In November, 2018, the Ministry of Finance released a total of K4.8 billion to finance public service operations and sustain service delivery.
This is contained in a press statement by Chileshe Kandenta Ministry of finance spokesperson.
