MoF expects deficit outturn for 2018 to be 7% of GDP

The Ministry of Finance expects the fiscal deficit outturn for 2018 to be around 7 percent of the country’s GDP.

And government expenditure in the third quarter of 2018 was 9.4 percent below the period target.

Permanent Secretary for Budget and Economic Affairs, Emmanuel Pamu says government targeted to spend k51.4 billion from January to September, but that the outturn ended up being K50.3 billion.

Dr. Pamu says this represents a percentage variation of -2.1 percent.

In a presentation during the National Development Coordinating Committee (NDCC) meeting in Lusaka, Dr. Pamu said the 2018 budget performance was thus broadly in line with the quarter target with revenues and grants recorded at 5 percent above target.

He says government targeted to raise, in revenues and grants, K38.3 billion from January to September 2018, but that the outturn was k38.7 billion which represents a percentage variation of 1.0 percent.

Speaking at the same meeting, secretary to the cabinet Roland Msiska called for a coherent mechanism to link the budgeting and national planning processes.

Dr. Msiska says the ministries of finance and national planning should do so following the agreed upon decision that national budget preparations begin in January starting with 2019.

He says this is in order that the future medium term expenditure framework (MTEF) can accommodate programmes that are being implemented under the Seventh National Development Plan (7NDP).