Harare (New Ziana)-Finance and Investment Promotion Minister Prof Mthuli Ncube on Wednesday said government departments have put in bids for ZWL$110 trillion in the 2024 national budget, more than the country’s estimated revenue base of ZWL$47 trillion.

Prof Ncube told Parliamentarians during a pre-2024 budget seminar that expenditure for the country is projected at ZWL$47.8 trillion, broken down as ZWL$24.7 trillion for compensation of employees and capital expenditure at ZWL$10.3 trillion.

“Total bids so far amount to over ZWL$110 trillion, against a budget framework of ZWL$47 trillion,” he said.

Commenting on performance of the 2023 budget, Ncube said all the Ministries and departments overspent.

For instance, the Office of the President and Cabinet overspent by 439 percent from an original estimate of ZW$16.7 billion to utilising ZW$760.4 billion as of the end of September.

Parliament used ZW$49.3 billion, 130 percent more than ZW$64 billion which it had been estimated to use at the beginning of 2023.

“During the period January to September 2023 cumulative expenditure amounted to ZWL$12.6 trillion. Cumulative capital expenditure for the period Jan to August 2023 amounted to ZWL$3.3 trillion.

“Revenue collections for the period January to September 2023 stood at ZWL$11.5 trillion (approx US$4.1 billion), against expenditures of ZWL$12.6 trillion (approx US$4.5 billion), resulting in a budget deficit of ZWL$1.13 trillion,” he said.

Ncube said in 2024, the economy is projected to grow by 3.5 percent underpinned by expectations that the country will receive normal to below normal rainfall, declining international commodities prices, continuation of multicurrency regime and tight fiscal and monetary policies.

“We must be more prudent next year in terms of how we structure our budget. It means we should incentivise certain areas, diaspora remittances and beneficiation in the mining sector. We need to continue to support the manufacturing sector to be able to access foreign currency to enable retooling,” he said.

Ncube said the forthcoming national budget would focus on the following priority areas: infrastructure, ICTs and Digital Economy, devolution and decentralisation, and supporting Productive Value Chains among others.

New Ziana