Mwanamvekha to present K511bn Malawi provisional budget

Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Joseph Mwanamvekha will present the provisional budget in Parliament this Friday  seeking approval for government  to use K511,269,522,794 billion from July 1 to October 31 this year.

A notice of upcoming business showed that Mwanamveka will seek will approval from the House to authorise the withdrawal from the consolidated fund of this amount “for the purpose of meeting expenditure necessary to carry on the services of the Government from 1st July to 31st October, 2019.”

Mwanamvekha, an economist and former banker,  said before September this year, the nation should have the full fiscal plan in place to ensure all aspects of development are implemented as per government design.

He said the provisional budget, as provided for in the Constitution, has a maximum timeframe of four months, giving room for government to prepare a full budget.

Mwanamveka, who will make his maiden official duty, said the provisional budget will provide information on statutory expenses such as salaries, pensions and gratuities.

“We also only budget for on-going projects and the payments that we make on quarterly projects. We do not cover, for instance, issues of development projects and all that.

“Before the end of September, we need to have a full budget to be approved by Parliament and passed and the provisional budget of four months will form part of the full national budget.”

He said the provisional budget has been necessitated by the late constitution of the Cabinet, which President Peter Mutharika appointed on June 19.

Mwanamvekha, who once worked as Secretary to the Treasury,  moves from Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development where he was credited with boosting food security through surplus harvests of maize, Malawi’s staple grain.

He replaces Goodall Gondwe, who has been the Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development for a decade. Gondwe is now President Mutharika’s chief economic advisor.

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