CSPR - Social targets are as important as Macroeconomic targets

SOCIAL TARGETS ARE AS IMPORTANT AS MACROECONOMIC TARGETS:

CSPR 2002 PRE-BUDGET STATEMENT

As the 2002 budget is about to be presented to Parliament, the Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) urges the Minister of Finance and National Planning to present a budget that will reflect the content of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). The draft PRSP has been formulated with the active involvement of stakeholders such as the civil society, private sector, and international community. The CSPR is a network of civil society organizations that have been working together in the formulation of the PRSP. The call for a PRSP based budget comes from the views expressed by the grassroots during the wide consultations that the CSPR undertook around the country.

According to Mr. Gregory Chikwanka of the CSPR, this year’s budget must be poverty reducing. ‘’The budget should not only set macroeconomic targets of interest rate, money supply growth, inflation, economic growth, fiscal deficit, foreign exchange reserves etc., but should set social targets of access to health, education, shelter, safe water and sanitation, for the most vulnerable. As a matter of priority, funding to these sectors must be increased in real terms,’’ says Mr. Chikwanka.

Mr. Chikwanka has challenged the Government to put in place policies that would translate the President’s emphasis of making the agriculture sector “the center stage of economic development, engine for economic growth, employment creation and poverty reduction” into tangible results. “Agriculture must be accorded special attention because not only is it a lifeline of over 80% of the rural population but can, with massive investments, guarantee employment to 60% of Zambians, increase income to the farming community and broaden the tax base,” notes Mr. Chikwanka.

In order to empower individuals and families, Mr. Chikwanka has called for a buoyant budget that will create jobs and assure sustainable livelihoods. He further notes that, “gainful employment creation must be a crucial target for Zambia as unemployment is not just a cause of poverty but an affront to human dignity.”

According to Mr. Chikwanka, Zambia is characterized by a high degree of inequality in the distribution of incomes and calls for a progressive tax structure that will adequately address the issue of equity. This is essential to avoid causing further disparities in the already highly unequal personal income distribution. “In this regard the Minister of Finance should in this year’s budget put in place a tax credit that will take into account the rate of inflation for the last fiscal year and guarantee minimal living expenses as espoused by the Jesuit Center for Theological Reflection (JCTR). Tax concessions should be given to industries with special linkages in the economy such as the agro-based industries in order to create wealth and reduce poverty,” observes Mr. Chikwanka.

To ensure that ministries adhere to budget allocations, the Minister should not only end at announcing the budget but also ensure that mechanisms for strict adherence to budget allocations are put in place. In this regard, Mr. Chikwanka would like to inform the nation that CSPR aims to closely monitor the implementation of the budget to ensure that resources reach the intended targets, particularly poverty reduction targets. He has further called upon Government to make available to the public all necessary information on actual disbursements to make tracking down of the budget and other mechanisms by stakeholders possible.

In conclusion, it is the view of the CSPR that in order for the Government to receive the much-needed external resources for budget implementation, the perceived differences between Government and some donors on several issues related to political governance must be narrowed down as soon as possible. The CSPR echoes Jubilee-Zambia’s campaign for debt cancellation and calls upon the international community including the international financial institutions to consider canceling Zambia’s unsustainable debt and increase Official Development Assistance (ODA) and grants if they are to meaningfully contribute to poverty reduction in Zambia.

Gregory Chikwanka
Assistant Coordinator
CSPR

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