PARLIAMENT COMMITTEE WANTS ZERO CORRUPTION BUDGET – Malawi News Online

Budget and Finance Committee of Parliament Chairperson Sosten Gwengwe told The Nation newspaper that the committee expects the 2019/20 National Budget to be without wastage, corruption, misprocurement and private sector arrears.

According to Gwengwe, failure to provide the above is results into partial benefit of the budget, by citizens because of the challenges, citizens do not fully benefit from the budget.

The development happens after the committee stated that since authorities are spending beyond budget, a zero deficit would be necessary to avoid extending the already worse deficit. “We need to be moving towards the zero deficit budget and this can be achieved through strict austerity measures from the top political leadership. The truth of the matter is that we have over-borrowed and it needs urgent and drastic measures to deal with the problem because we cannot just be watching.” said Gwengwe a week ago.

The IMF also warned that Malawi is at growing risk of debt distress because of heavy borrowing, advising government to keep borrowing to a minimum and only procure loans that are concessional. The Zero Deficit Budget (ZDB) is a financial strategy laid out by Minister of Finance Ken Kandodo of Malawi under the Bingu wa Mutharika administration that is based on zero-based budgeting.