Economic think tank in Africa’s second largest copper producer, Zambia has lauded the festivity spend cut directive by Secretary to the Treasury Dr. Roland Msiska. Dr. Msiska directed all Permanent Secretaries to refrain from funding Christmas parties using public funds. In a press release from the Economic Association of Zambia secretariat, National Secretary – Mutisunge Zulu commenting on behalf of the board backed the stance citing alignment with the MinFin austerity posture committed to by the Minister Honorable Margaret Mwanakatwe in her 2018 mid – year fiscal performance review.
The press release recognizes some of the austerity measures that the state has successfully implemented so far that translate to cost savings in various cost lines. The EAZ cited replacement of leave commutation with outright leave which has eased the financial burden of remunerating staff for excessive leave days and eradication of personal to holder vehicle allocations which have been replaced by outright sale of vehicles to top government officials. This has resulted in huge cost savings on maintenance such as fuel and servicing fees, the National Secretary said.
Further latitude exists for the state to demonstrate fiscal prudence
The economic think tank EAZ believes that the state still has latitude to demonstrate fiscal prudence in areas ranging from travel cost management for top government officials (such as flying economy from business class) to ensuring that the public finance management bill is fully operationalized.
The need for a speedy litigation and full financial recovery process
The association also called for a full financial recovery process from perpetrators of public resource misuse which will require a speedy litigation process to ensure illegally acquired assets are in the open market to maximize recovery, the EAZ said.
“In so doing, the public financial management system will earn the requisite confidence and will set the tone for fiscal discipline. The Association lauds the launch of the revised Audit Committee Handbook that should aid zero audit queries. This can only be attained if the guidelines are religiously followed. This should assist in improving the advent of repeat findings in annual public sector audit reviews,” the press release carried.
Alignment with the medium term fiscal fitness target
“Successful implementation of austerity measures will breed confidence in the public finance management framework which will in turn allay some of the fears that investors, multilateral partners may have around budget and fiscal credibility. Prudent financial management of public resources aligns with the 7NDP, the medium term expenditure framework (MTEF) and ultimately the vision 2030,” the EAZ said.
