Preparation for the 2019 National Budget underway

ZwNews Chief Correspondent

The pre-Budget seminar which kicked off on Wednesday the 7^th and expected to end on Sunday the 11^th of November 2018 is underway at a Bulawayo hotel.

The event provides Members of Parliament (MPs) the chance to give input into next year’s National Budget by interacting with ministers, including the minister of finance.

Portfolio committees will also hear from ministries they supervise on budgetary priorities and proposals.

They will be able to pass the issues, priorities, and the people’s expectations which citizens would have highlighted during public consultations held nationwide by portfolio committees.

The Minister of Finance and Economic Development Mthuli Ncube, is expected to give a detailed analysis of the current state of economic affairs, as he announced recently in parliament, when he gave a ministerial statement.

Zimbabwe is struggling with a budget deficit that has hampered economic development and growth. To make matters worse the country has been failing to stick to the approved expenditures.

This seen the country spending more than it has, through the use of Treasury Bills, leading to ballooning domestic debts. The biggest beneficiary of the national cake has been the employment expenditure, eating up to more than 80 per cent of the state’s revenue.

On the positive note, the minister of finance has expressed his commitment to stick to the notion, ‘eat what you have killed’ through spending according to the available means. However, the major drawback would be; if the executive would respect his voice calling for less spending. Only time will tell.