2014 Budget set for December 19

Published: 10 December 2013

THE Ministry of Finance has said the 2014 National Budget will be announced on the 19th of this month.

This was contained in an official statement released to the media by the ministry yesterday.

Earlier this month, the Minister of Finance Patrick Chinamasa had indicated that the announcement of the National Budget had been delayed due to the need for more time for consultation.

In this regard BH24 spoke to economists, the business community and the ordinary citizens on their expectations for the 2014 National Budget. Economist Mr Felix Mufunda said there is a need for Government to give focus on one key sectors.

"There is a need to focus on the manufacturing sector and at the other sectors and to identify one major sector to focus on so that the identified sector can drive economic growth, rather than to spread the limited resources thinly to all sectors which has not worked in the past," he said.

Employers' Confederation of Zimbabwe executive director Mr Mufukare said they wanted the Government to focus on workers' welfares.

"We expect the budget to inject more disposable income into the economy so as to ignite aggregate demand and to get business moving," he said.

The general sentiments from the ordinary Zimbabweans is the hope that the budget will boost economic activity and create jobs.

All stakeholders have their expectations from the budget and civil servants expect pay rises while the health sector expects a large potion allocated to them as well. But the question that still remains is where will the money come from? The Ministry of Finance faces a serious challenge to meet the expectations of the different economic agents.

However, what is of paramount importance is that the budget should be strategically allocated so as to boost economic growth with priority given to identified key economic sectors.
- bh24