Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube is now seeking condonation from the National Assembly for unauthorised expenditure amounting to ZW$100.7 billion for 2020 and ZW$6.8 billion for 2019.
This is contained in the Financial Adjustment Bill of 2022.
The government is in violation of section 307 of the constitution which stipulates that the minister must seek condonation not later than 60 days after the extent of the unauthorised expenditure has been established.
The government continues spending recklessly and in violation of the constitution, despite repeated reports by Auditor-General Mildred Chiri highlighting bad governance.
The Zimbabwean government has continued to live beyond its means, situation said to the detriment of national recovery from catastrophic decay — the only significant growth in the economy is that of the budget deficit.
Former Finance Minister Tendai Biti is on record saying the government should eat what it kills.
Ideally, budget evaluation involves comparing what was budgeted for and what actually transpired. Any significant differences warrant investigation.
Spending more than budgeted is obviously a problem if no compelling reasons are given.
From January to September 2021 the govt spent ZWL$350.2 billion against a target of $305.32 billion. Over budget by $44.9 billion, which is an overshoot of 14.7%.
The Auditor General looked at the activities of the Treasury and found that there was unauthorised expenditure amounting to ZWL$6.8 billion.
A supplementary budget of that amount should have been approved by the parliament.
Zwnews/ Newshawks
