2022 Budget Bids vs 2022 Budget Envelope
Finance and Economic Development Minister Mthuli Ncube has revealed that budget requests received from line ministries are beyond the country’s capacity.
He said proposals from ministries were in the region of ZW$3 trillion against a budget envelope of ZW$900 billion.
The finance minister however said that despite the differences between the requests and available funds, he will ensure that the vote bids are resourced to the greatest extent possible so that they respond to the needs of the people.
‘’Mr Speaker Sir, as already noted, most presentations by Ministries lamented the inadequacy of the Expenditure Ceilings already provided by Treasury with most bids being more than by 100% of the proposed ceilings.
‘’As I have always highlighted during previous Seminars over the years, our capacity to finance expenditures will continue to be dependent on the revenue generation capacity of the economy and our ability to borrow sustainably.
‘’Against this background, the overall 2022 Budget Envelope is ZWL$900 billion, however, my last count of the bids submitted by line Ministries indicates resource requirements in the excess of ZWL$3 trillion. Surely, this is beyond our capacity, and more fundamentally, poses challenges from a prioritisation point of view.
‘’Whilst I acknowledge and appreciate the current challenges, critical is that we become more efficient and effective in the use of available resources in line with our value for money and Program Based Budgeting principles. It is also worth noting that despite limited resources, some Ministries still fail to utilise their budget allocations year in year out.
‘’That being said, however, the 2022 budget will endeavour to ensure that all key priority areas as presented in the vote bids are resourced to the greatest extent possible so that we respond to the needs of our people,’’ he said.
Minister has often come under fire from economic commentators for constantly declaring surpluses when the line ministries are under-funded.
On several occasions, the treasury has failed to disburse all the allocated funds to the line ministries, a development which is said to be affecting the smooth operation of government departments.
