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| Malawi Economic Justice Network -
Comments on the proposed Malawi Budget 2001-2002
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| 4. Non-poverty Reducing Expenditures |
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| Non Poverty Reducing Expenditures |
2000/01 Approved |
2000/01 Revised |
2001/02 Estimate |
2001/02 Adjusted for Inflation |
Increase or Decrease Adjusted for Inflation |
| Office of the President and Cabinet |
545,007,080 |
1,670,450,697 |
696,087,913 |
530,150,733 |
-3% |
| State Residences |
174,471,176 |
629,652,165 |
306,878,991 |
233,723,527 |
+33% |
| National Intelligence Bureau |
N/A |
N/A |
94,177,035 |
N/A |
N/A |
| Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation |
680,492,901 |
1,323,656,114 |
821,609,475 |
625,749,791 |
-8% |
| Special Activities |
4,540,322,558 |
696,257,179 |
3,644,728,125 |
2,775,878,236 |
-39% |
| Refunds and Repayments |
30,000,000 |
39,000,000 |
2,658,725,600 |
2,024,924,295 |
+6650% |
| Public Debt Charges |
8,008,000,000 |
5,557,461,413 |
6,570,900,000 |
5,004,493,526 |
-37.5% |
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There are a number of proposed Government expenditures in this table are serious causes for concern.
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State Residences
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This budget line covers five houses, and was 260% over budget last year. At a proposed 234 million, it is only 30 million less than what is being spent on the National Assembly, and is more than the ACB, Ombudsman, Auditor General, Human Rights Commission put together. It is also set to increase by 33% this year. It is hard to see how this expense can be justified by a Government commited to poverty reduction.
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Refunds and Repayments
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This budget line is in statutory expenditures and represents a staggering 6650% inrease on last year. The total figure is 2 billion MK, more than the Ministry of Agriculture. The budget documents break it down as follows:
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| Apex |
MK 300,000,000 |
| SECUCOM |
MK 528,000,000 |
| Land Rovers |
MK 168,000,000 |
| MPs' Vehicles |
MK 72,000,000 |
| TATAs |
MK 939,000,000 |
| ADMARC Overdraft |
MK 1,000,000 |
| General Compensation |
MK 650,725,600 |
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This list reveals that the Government is proposing to spend as much this year on rectifying previous financial scandals as it will on Agriculture. At the same time the level of expenditure going to the kinds of accountability agencies that should detect these frauds is still minimal, and the transparency required to prevent them happening again is yet to be found in the budget.
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Special Activities
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The budget line for special activities (2.7 billion MK) again exceeds that for Agriculture, yet the budget documents given no information as to what these 'special activities' are likely to be. This is not good enough, and Government should give details on exactly what is contained under 'special activities' and why it cannot be transparently included in other budgets.
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