DPP says 2013/14 Malawi budget ‘poetic but uninspiring’
The opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has described the 2013/14 budget presented in Parliament on Friday as uninspiring as it will only stimulate the country’s ever-dependence on donors.
Malawi’s Minister of Finance, Ken Lipenga, on Friday presented the 2013/14 budget statement, which has relaxed some taxes, saying the financial plan will continue with measures that will heal and recover the country’s economy.
In an interview, Leader of DPP in Parliament, Dr. George Chaponda said the current budget offers no hope of turning Malawi from over-donor dependency to economically independent nation.
Based on the presented statement, development partners are financing the country’s 2013/14 budget to the tune of 41 percent of total expenditure.
“There is no sign or hope that we are moving towards that direction of reducing donor dependency so that in years to come we can start relying on ourselves economically. And there are other factors that have been left out that are essential to the poor man,” said Chaponda.
He criticized the budget of lacking insight as it did not outline any new project initiated by Peoples’ Party (PP), adding the once ruling party was dismayed by continuous rejection of unfinished projects it initiated while in power.
Chaponda said: “It is sad that projects like Nsanje waterway and others are continuously ignored by this government. Those are some of projects that will create a way for us as a country to be independent. All the projects mentioned in the budget already exist as there is nothing new this government would say is creating as its own”.
He said the budget offers no hope of immediate ease about current economic recovery measures which continue to hurt the local man.
Lipenga told Parliament that the development partners are financing the K603.4 billion budget to the tune of 41 percent of total expenditure.
