via Budget superficial and shallow: MKD DECEMBER 22, 2013 By Sofia Mapuranga NehandaRadio
Mavambo Kusile Dawn President, Simba Makoni has described as superficial and shallow, Finance Minister, Patrick Chinamasa’s $4,2 billion budget saying the financial plan does not reflect how government will steer Zimbabwe’s social and economic transformation for the benefit of the majority.
Mavambo Kusile Dawn President Simba Makoni
Addressing journalists at a press conference at the party’s headquarters in Harare, Makoni said there was a disjuncture on the convergence of the old dead economy and the new one.
“The budget is definitely not what the people expected. The people were optimistic that the budget would address critical issues such as how the government would create investor confidence, finance agriculture, revive the country’s industries and create employment,” said Makoni.
He said the budget lacked clarity and direction on the financial mechanisms of especially the agriculture sector considering that land had been dubbed the backbone of the economy.
“It is suprising that this time, there is no mention of land despite the usual rhetoric that the economy is dependant on land,” he said.
Makoni however applauded the affirmation of the continued use of foreign currency and the announcement that government would recapitalise the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
Said Makoni: “Adopting the RBZ debt is a positive move considering the impact that this will have on banks.
“However, it is important that the nation be informed how that money was used and who benefitted from how much, instead of assuming debts that we do not know whether they were used for the intended purposes,” he said.
Makoni said the budget presentation was a reflection that government had no plan to stimulate foreign direct investment.
Said Makoni: “It is a positive move that government realises the importance of the contribution of Zimbabweans in the diaspora.
“It is ironic that they want their money but they do not want them,” he said, adding that the budget had ignored the micro lending sector.
“Road levies will further deplete the already over burdened pockets of not only the poor but every Zimbabwean,” he said.
Makoni said there was no policy consistencies and the 2014 budget did not offer a lucrative framework for the country’s social and economic transformation for the better. The Zimbabwean
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