Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
The Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) in Eastern Province has expressed concern over the intention by government to issue a new Eurobond worth $2 billion.
CSPR Eastern Province Coordinator Maxson Nkhoma has told QFM News in a statement that Government’s huge appetite for borrowing is a source of worry and will not only undermine efforts to reduce poverty levels in Zambia, but will further increase the already high poverty levels.
Mr. Nkhoma says government should do the rational thing in view of the reduction in its domestic resource mobilization efforts as a result of the revised mineral royalty tax.
He says government should also reduce the budget expenditure through rationalization of the budget by prioritizing projects and cutting down on wasteful expenditure as opposed to borrowing.
He further states that Government should be looking at cutting down on expenditure on foreign and local trips being made by government senior government officials such Cabinet Ministers which cost a lot of tax payers money and restrict Government trips to occasions which are necessary for the government to fulfill its international and local obligations.
Mr Nkhoma points out that Government Programmes such as official launches for projects such as construction of government hospitals or Construction of township Roads are good examples of things that could be done by Provincial Ministers and District Commissioner as opposed to a situation where full cabinet ministers travel to Provinces to launch such projects.
Mr. Nkhoma states that the Government will also need to halt implementation of projects not planned for in the 2015 national budget as they have the potential to distort figures and cause pressure on the 2015 national budget.
He has further urged government to improve debt management through enhanced oversight role of parliament in order to safeguard the posterity of Zambia’s development programmes.