Online Reporter
Nqobile Bhebhe
Zimpapers Business Hub
THE Government will introduce a Domestic Debt Resolution Framework through the 2026 national budget, aimed at enhancing transparency and efficiency in the settlement of local obligations, a senior Treasury official has said.
Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Permanent Secretary, Mr George Guvamatanga, told delegates at the ongoing Pre-Budget Seminar in Bulawayo yesterday that the 2026 National Budget will prioritise establishing a structured and transparent mechanism to address domestic debt.
He spoke in the context of claims that the Government is not paying contractors for various projects.
“It is true, the Government does owe some suppliers and some contractors and a few miners for their retention. But all of these three are arrangements, agreed arrangements, in terms of how the debt is supposed to be settled. But what we are doing is that in this coming budget, we are going to have a framework, a domestic debt resolution framework, which is transparent and known to everyone.
“At the moment, the noise that we are having is just an information gap,” said Mr Guvamatanga.
The seminar, titled “Enhancing Drivers of Economic Growth and Transformation Towards Vision 2030,” focuses on key fiscal, economic, and development issues that cut across all sectors of the economy.
The annual Pre-Budget Seminar forms a vital part of Zimbabwe’s fiscal planning architecture, ensuring that citizens’ voices are incorporated into national priorities and resource allocation.
It reinforces the principles of transparency, accountability and inclusivity in the management of public finances. He dismissed reports suggesting that the Government was failing to pay contractors, saying such claims were exaggerated and not reflective of the actual situation.
“There have been claims in the (news) media that contractors have not been paid for two years, three years. But do you think any contractor would have remained on the road if they had not been paid? Do you believe that we would have silos being opened in Kwekwe, being opened in Mutare, if we were not paying the contractors? So there is actually a little bit of an exaggeration in terms of contractors not being paid,” he said.
Turning to investment incentives, Mr Guvamatanga emphasised that Government policies were non-discriminatory, ensuring equal treatment of both local and foreign investors.
“The investment incentives are non-discriminatory between foreign and local investors. The Treasury is responsible for issuing all the incentives, be it national project status, be it special economic zone, be it tax incentives. There is no discrimination whatsoever, whether you are a local investor or a foreign investor; the benefits are the same for the two types of investors. We probably need to have a booklet and inform our local investors of the incentives that are actually available to them.
“But whether you are a local miner, you bring in your equipment today, the same tax incentives in terms of duty-free available to Zimplats are what you will also get as a local miner. There is no discrimination at all as far as that is concerned,” he said.
Meanwhile, Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube said the Government had observed that the Presumptive Tax system was not fully meeting its intended objectives.
“We have noted that the Presumptive Tax is not responding as fast as the other taxes. That is correct. That is why last year we proposed that the presumptive tax rates be reduced in the first place because we noticed it ourselves, but we are making progress.
“If you are asking people to pay $100 a year for some tax, the lawyers, the doctors, it’s not going to happen, or anybody, or taxi drivers, for example.
“So we might as well just reduce it so that we can improve compliance. So we are watching that to see whether we need even further deductions or to improve the collection approach.
“We are looking into that, but clearly, you are spot on here that presumptive taxes have not worked well, so we reduced the rates now,” said Prof Ncube.
On the Intermediated Money Transfer Tax (IMTT), Prof Ncube said the levy remained an important source of funding for key Government programmes, including infrastructure development and vaccine procurement.
“So, my issue is we can reduce IMTT by half a percent, but provided you allow us to increase VAT by half a percent because we need those revenues. Would you agree with that?” he said.
Addressing legislators, Speaker of the National Assembly, Advocate Jacob Mudenda, said that effective fiscal management and accountability mechanisms remain central to the country’s economic transformation agenda.
“To achieve a robust Budget, there is a need to accelerate domestic resource mobilisation. This is so because, according to the 2025 Mid-Term Budget and Economic Review, revenue collections reached ZiG 101.2 billion against a target of ZiG 118,1 billion,” he said.
“Expenditures reached ZiG 98 billion against a projected ZiG 127,5 billion. These figures demonstrate some prudential fiscal management while simultaneously revealing the persistent chasm between revenue generation capacity and expenditure requirements for optimal service delivery.”
The 2026 National Budget is expected to balance fiscal prudence with developmental priorities while promoting transparency and efficiency in public financial management.
