Govt authorises $400m budget overrun

via Govt authorises $400m budget overrun – DailyNews Live by Lloyd Mbiba  4 FEBRUARY 2014 

Government has authorised a $400 million budget overrun for 2013 through a statutory instrument.

Patrick Chinamasa, minister of Finance and Economic Development, has drafted the Financial Adjustments Bill 2014, seeking to condone government’s $389 871 000 unauthorised expenditure for 2013.

“If a government ministry or department spends money in any financial year in excess of the amount appropriated, or for a purpose for which nothing was  appropriated, the minister of Finance and Economic Development is required by section 307 of the constitution to cause a bill condoning the unauthorised expenditure to be introduced in the National Assembly seeking condonation of the unauthorised expenditure, no later than 60 days after the extent of the unauthorised expenditure has been established,” reads a notice placed by Chinamasa on the latest Government Gazette.

Leading the pack in overshooting the budget was the ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs which overspent its allocated vote by $143 500 000.

The ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development was second with $81 934 000 of unauthorised expenditure.

Next came the ministry of Home Affairs which overspent $77 900 000.

The office of the President and Cabinet gobbled $31 million in unauthorised expenditure.

Although Chinamasa was unreachable yesterday to clarify why he was condoning the unauthorised expenditure, Vince Museve, an economic analyst, tore into government for its move to over look its expenditure outside the budget.

“This year’s budget proposal is $4,2 billion and what this means is that we have to subtract last year’s unauthorised expenditure from the current budget,” Musewe said.

“This unauthorised expenditure will not be deducted from the respective ministries budget allocations and this will pile pressure on the revenue.

“This is not good for the economy because the government is trying to smuggle in it’s over expenditure via the backdoor. Where will the government find the money to finance last year’s over expenditure?

“The tax base is shrinking and we cannot borrow and this is bad economics. It is like a man who agrees with his wife to spend $500 and the wife goes on to spend $600. Where will the $100 come from? This will pile pressure on the family and have a snowball effect on their finances.”

The ministry of Finance and Economic Development overspent $20 900 000 in 2013, the ministry of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services overspent $20 717 000, while the ministry of Industry and Commerce overshot its budget by $12 659 000.

The ministry of Environment, Water and Climate had budget overrun of $8 100 000, the ministry of Defence overspent by $5 300 000, while the ministry of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services used $3 300 000 in unauthorised expenditure.

The Parliament of Zimbabwe overshot its budget by $1 561 000, while the ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry had a budget overrun of $1 000 000.