CCZ appeals to govt to reconsider wage freeze

The Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) has cautiously welcomed government’s expressed desire to limit the overall fiscal deficit to 4.6 percent of the country’s GDP in the 2015 national budget.

Government has also indicated that it will contain domestic borrowing to 2.0% of GDP.

And the CCZ has appealed to government to seriously consider lifting the wage freeze imposed on the public service.

Speaking in Lusaka this morning during a media briefing, CCZ President Alfred Kalembo says the church mother body is of the view that government should continuously decrease domestic borrowing to avoid crowding out private sector borrowing from commercial banks which will consequently limit employment creation.

Reverend Bishop Dr. Kalembo states that while CCZ appreciates government’s intention to achieve a real GDP growth of above 7 percent in 2015, such increase in GDP indicator has not facilitated the transformation of the economy and the lives of the poor people especially those in the rural areas.

He says in view of the many challenges the country is currently facing such as high poverty levels, lack of access to health services and lack of access to income, the CCZ hopes that government will design subsidiary policies and programmes that will ensure that the proposed GDP works for the poor.

Reverend Kalembo says CCZ also advises government to ensure that inflation is maintained at the lowest levels and reflected in low commercial interest rates to encourage increased investment and employment creation.

The CCZ president adds that his organization has taken note with keen interest the redesigned tax regime for mining operations in which will see mineral royalty based on either underground or open cast mining operations.

He says the church mother body commits to interrogating the redesigned tax regime, and that its initial reflections are that this measure takes into consideration the various costs associated with a type of mining operation.

On Agriculture, Reverend Kalembo says the CCZ is concerned that in the last decade Zambia’s budgetary allocation to the sector has been below the 10% of total budget target as outlined in the Maputo Declaration on Agriculture and Rural Development.

And Reverend Kalembo has observed that Zambia’s poverty levels dictate that in order to uphold dignity for all, more people need to qualify for various social protection interventions, but that this is however not possible from the paltry K1.3 billion allocated in 2015 national budget to social protection programmes.

He points out that an allocation of only K180.6 million towards social cash transfer and another K50 million for the food security pack is also unimpressive as far as enabling more people qualify for various social protection interventions.