Treasury under scrutiny | Business Times

LIVINGSTONE MARUFU

Legislators are unhappy with the Treasury’s handling of the budget, saying the Exchequer has done little to support ministries and delays in disbursing allocated funds have resulted in the cancellation of planned projects.

Despite assurances that the Government has cash surplus as it has maintained a cash budgeting framework, Treasury, under the leadership of Professor Mthuli Ncube has of late come under intense scrutiny from lawmakers, who believe it has not fully met the needs of ministries, hindering progress.

While other stakeholders heap much of the blame on ZIMRA, the country’s tax collector, whose primary duty is to collect taxes to fund government operations, the lawmakers believe that the buck should stop with the Treasury at the end of the day.

The chairman of the Portfolio Committee on Budget, Finance and Investment Promotion, Clemence Chiduwa told Business Times, a market leader in business, financial and economic reportage, that Parliamentarians are unhappy with Treasury’s delays in disbursing funds to ministries.

“We call upon the Finance (Economic Development and Investment) Ministry to have timely disbursements for the funds of various ministries in line with the submissions as done by the ministries, departments and agencies [MDAs]. I would say from an oversight point of view we would want all Ministries to be at par with regards to the disbursements of funds that are meant for specific programmes,”Chiduwa said.

He added: “We have a number of ministries whose utilisation of budget is still very low with some at 22%. As the Parliament, as we play our oversight role, we are very worried.

“Our main worry is the fact that when the ministries present their budgets, they prevent it in the form of programmes. Every budget item as captured in the Appropriation Act is against a specific programme and every programme is well aligned to National Development Strategy [NDS]1   and Vision 2030. So, the low budget utilisation for us would mean failure to deliver on the programmes as planned.

This is also a reflection on our low realisation on NDS1 and Vision 2030.”

There is also disquiet from several Cabinet ministers over the way the Treasury has been conducting budgetary matters.

Youth Empowerment, Development and Vocational Training Minister, Minister Tino Machakaire , warned that Treasury’s failure was gravely impeding the ministry’s ability to carry out crucial youth empowerment and development programs.

“We are as a country sitting on a time bomb if we don’t treat the issue of youth empowerment as a priority, considering that the youth are the pulse of our nation,” Machakaire  said.

 “It is important to prioritise the youth since they constitute over 60% of the total population. We cannot keep quiet when the Treasury is suffocating the Youth Ministry by failing to disburse funds for youth empowerment.

“We have a problem of drug and substance abuse in the country, and reviving vocational training centres is one such intervention to fight this scourge of drug abuse, But, we are failing to fulfil this mandate.

“ We require infrastructure development and funding to upgrade vocational training centres to upskill youth and take them away from drugs.”

He also disclosed that the Ministry of Youth Empowerment’s difficulties were made worse by the fact that the ministry did not receive any financing from the Treasury this year.

Machakaire said without proper funding for youth empowerment, the government’s efforts to tackle youth unemployment and substance abuse may be undermined.

Machakaire was supported by a number of other Cabinet members who talked to Business Times this week under the condition of anonymity.

According to several economists who spoke to Business Times, the Treasury’s delays in allocating cash undermine public trust and confidence in the fiscal authorities.

“What it does is that it cripples ministries a lot to a very great extent as what it means is that ministries will only be able to finance their salaries and won’t be able to undertake the important developmental projects and programmes,” economist, Dr Prosper Chitambara, told Business Times.

 He added: “Let’s take the Health Ministry as an example, late disbursements affect service delivery in the economy. It creates budget credibility issues as funds are allocated and end up not being disbursed. After that happens economic agents lose trust and confidence in fiscal authorities.”

Another economist, Vince Musewe, said the vulnerable members of the society will be victims of late disbursements as service delivery will be compromised.

“That is indeed a travesty because it makes planning ineffective without the resources. Health and education all suffer, and it is our children who bear the brunt. It’s not fair and is irresponsible,” Musewe said.

It comes at a time when the Government is operating on a cash budget, which means the Treasury will only payout what is available. Additionally, Treasury experiencing constrained cashflows as a result of other pressing programmes.

All efforts to get a comment from Professor Mthuli and the Finance Ministry secretary George Guvamatanga were futile.

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