adminAuxilia Katongomara, Chronicle Reporter
LEGISLATORS and key economic players will converge in Bulawayo on Thursday for a four-day pre-national budget seminar for 2017.
The meeting, which will also review the 2016 National Budget, will be held at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair grounds and will end on Sunday.
The pre-budget seminar follows outreach programmes held by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Finance and Economic Development that travelled across the country to listen and get people’s views.
Committee chairperson, Cde David Chapfika said: “It’s a statutory requirement that Parliament consults the people. So as the committee for budget, finance and economic development we went round the country supported by three other committees who also carried out their independent consultations with their stakeholders. We were two groups who went right round the country covering the northern and southern parts and we collated details on what the people would want to see in the 2017 national budget.”
He said the legislators would be sharing with the executive what the public expects in next year’s budget.
“Now we are going to Bulawayo from the 3rd to the 6th of November with all the honourable Members of Parliament to sit and provide summaries and interactions with the executive sharing with them, particularly the Ministry of Finance which is responsible for crafting the budget,” said Cde Chapfika.
He said all the chairpersons of parliamentary committees will be given time to brief the delegates on their independent findings and on the requirements for their respective portfolio committee. Cde Chapfika declined to share the findings of the public hearings. “I will give a comprehensive summary of all the requirements during the seminar,” he said.
@AuxiliaK
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