Finance Minister presents 2022 budget strategy paper

Harare (New Ziana)- In a bid to improve stakeholder participation in the National Budget formulation process, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube on Thursday presented to Parliament the 2022 Budget Strategy Paper which will guide consultations on next year’s budget to be presented later in the year.

Normally, the budget strategy paper is made public a few weeks before presentation of the following year’s National Budget.

But, Ncube said the paper had been made public; “much earlier in the budget formulation process in order to give ample time for debate among stakeholders on the priorities of the forthcoming 2022 national budget,” he said.

He said the strategy paper seeks to reinforce and support ongoing policy measures towards domestic economic recovery, facilitate economic growth and further expand the country’s productive capacity and accelerate economic transformation.

He projected Zimbabwe’s economy to grow by 5.4 percent in 2022, anchored on growth in the mining, manufacturing and electricity generation sectors, carrying on the growth trajectory expected this year despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year, government has said it expects economic growth of around 7.8 percent while the International Monetary Fund recently projected a slightly lower growth rate of around six percent on the back of a bumper agricultural harvest, improved power supplies and an increase in manufacturing and construction.

“This growth target is consistent with the attainment of vision 2030 of an upper middle income status and some SDG targets,” he said.

Ncube said government revenue was expected to improve from 16.4 percent (ZW$390.8 billion) of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2021 to 17.8 percent (ZW$533.2 billion) in 2022, while expenditure would increase to 19.4 percent (ZW$579.1 billion) of the GDP from 18.2 percent (ZW$421.6 billion) in 2021.

“These figures are in line with the macro-economic framework which is in the National Development Strategy 1, so we are staying the course in terms of that NDS1 projection.”

New Ziana