Online Reporter
Nelson Gahadza
Zimpapers Business Hub
Government has directed that no ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) shall contract beyond US$2 million without the Treasury’s written consent to entrench fiscal discipline crucial to the stability and growth of the economy.
Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube, during a post-budget presentation interview in Harare on Thursday, blamed delays on payments to some contractors on over-contracting by some MDAs in the construction of key infrastructure like roads and dams.
He said that some contractors tended to overprice as they used to do during the era of currency instability, when they would add between 50 percent and 200 percent on the normal cost in anticipation of inflation.
“But now things are different; to curb these challenges, the Treasury will introduce stricter controls that include matching the budget release to the cash available.
“In addition, no MDA shall contract beyond US$2 million without Treasury’s written consent,” he said.
“We want some order, and it shall be so, and things will improve, and I am optimistic things will improve going forward.”
MDAs have consistently raised concerns in Parliament over delayed and insufficient fund disbursements from the Treasury, saying the issue hurts service delivery and project implementation.
The 2026 national budget hinges on stabilising inflation, easing business costs through tax adjustments, strengthening fiscal controls, and leveraging high mineral prices to fund public programmes, all while pursuing the targeted 5 percent economic growth.
The minister also defended new gold royalty measures amid strong global price increases, saying as a government, it is just sharing on the upside of the increase in the gold price.
“Today the gold price is closer to US$4 500 per ounce, while royalties have stayed low, and we want to share on the upside,” he said.
