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2002/03 POST-BUDGET REPORT
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| 1.1 Introduction |
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The 2002/03 Budget Statement was ably delivered on 28th June 2002 by Honourable Friday A. Jumbe, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning. Members of the Budget and Finance Committee listened attentively to the budget estimates for the 2002/03 financial year and revised estimates for the 2001/02 fiscal year. The well-chosen title for the statement was " Facing our Realities and Living Within Our Means in the Fight Against Poverty". The title says it all.
Following the submission of the Pre-Budget Report submitted to Parliament and the delivery of the Budget Speech, the Budget and Finance Committee submits this Post-Budget Report to Parliament. This report is intended to inform Parliament on observations and recommendations of the Committee on the 2001/02 and the 2002/03 Budgets as presented by the Minister of Finance. The report is intentionally submitted before the 2002/03 Budget is adopted. The goal is to assist Members of Parliament to better understand contents of the Budget Documents in readiness for the deliberations in the House.
The report comments on the out-turn of the 2001/02 Budget. Special attention is devoted to the Priority Poverty Expenditures (PPEs) that the Committee has been monitoring during the 2001/02 financial year. The report will then analyse the 2002/03 Draft estimates as contained in the Budget Documents submitted to Parliament. The report wishes to underline the importance of monitoring the implementation cycle of the budget. Chapter 6 of the PRSP outlines a monitoring system, which, to the knowledge of the Committee is not yet operational. It is important that such a system be agreed upon and be institutionalised for all the stakeholders to be able to participate in monitoring the 2002/2003 Budget.
Distribution and Presentation of Budget Documents
The Budget and Finance Committee acknowledges the change of the format in some of the budget documents. The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning is commended for preparing Budget Documents that are user-friendlier. The Committee wishes to note the following:
- The Committee was presented with the following Budget Documents:
- 2002/03 Budget Statement
- Budget Document No.2: Economic Report 2002
- Budget Document No.3: financial Statement for financial Year 2002/2003
- Budget Document No.4A: Draft Estimates of Expenditure on recurrent and Capital Accounts for the Financial Year 2002/03 (Output Based).
| The Committee wishes to know whether Budget Document No.4B is part of the 2002/2003 Budget Documents and whether copies shall be made available to the Committee. |
- The Committee noticed that there two versions of Budget Document No.4A for the 2001/02 Budget. The contents of the two versions were different. The Officers that the Committee contacted explained that the first version contained the budget estimates "as presented in Parliament" and the second one contained the "approved budget". The Committee only had one version with figures as presented. This deprived the Committee with the necessary tools for analysing the budget with figures "as approved". It is not common knowledge that there ought to be two versions and if this is true then the Ministry may wish to make both versions available to the Committee and to Parliament.
- The Committee noticed that some budget lines bear different figures depending on the budget document used. For example, in Budget Document No. 3 (page 12), the drafts estimate for 2002/03 under the budget line of "Refunds and Repayments” is MK62.7 million whereas the same line is estimated at K50.0 million in Budget Document No.4A (page 35). The totals for 2002/03 tax revenue and for Development Expenditure contained in Budget Documents 3 and 2 differ. There is need that the corresponding figures in all the documents be the same.
- It is commendable that the present format of the documents is much easier for users. The inclusion of additional tables on the Protected PPEs and allocation and uses of HIPC resources responds to the request in the earlier reports of the Committee and is appreciated.
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