malvernmugadzikwa
Enacy Mapakame
The civil society says there has been marked improvement in fiscal transparency by the Government in the past few years, which civil society has described as a step in the right direction towards enhancing transparency and accountability in public finance management.
Latest international budget partnership rankings place Zimbabwe in third position in Africa on budget transparency, something the civil society sees as a significant improvement since the second republic came into power.
On an international level, the country is ranked 41 out of 120 economies.
Among the factors considered are presentation of debt information, consultations in budget processes as well as publication of a budget strategy paper.
The 2022 Annual Debt Management Report to be released this week highlights strides taken by Treasury in providing information on the country’s debt situation that is both domestic and foreign debt figures, something the new dispensation adopted as
ways to improve transparency and accountability.
“Government is beginning to provide debt information and we appreciate it, especially in 2021 Treasury gave us information such as creditor by country, a report on blocked funds and a report on special drawing rights (SDRs),” said Lupane State University Lecturer Dr Gorden Moyo, former Minister of State Enterprises and Parastatals.
Moyo was on Wednesday commenting on the 2022 Annual Debt Management Report during the three day 4th Zimbabwe Annual Debt Conference in Bulawayo hosted by the African Forum and Network on Debt Development (AFRODAD) in conjunction with the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD).
This year, Finance and Economic Development Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube, also presented the 2022 Mid-term Budget and Economic Review, which came at a time the country was battling macro and micro-economic challenges such as foreign currency volatility and price inflation eroding real incomes and reduced consumer spending.
ZIMCODD executive director, Janet Zhou, also commended the Treasury boss for adopting some of the recommendations from civil society, which she said was a positive development towards transparency and accountability in public finance management.
While there are notable improvements in budget processes, the civil society, however, maintains there remain some areas for further improvement which include increased public awareness and participation in the budget-making process, decentralisation of venues for the consultative meetings, and increased uptake of the public’s wishes and aspirations, and wide dissemination of all relevant budget information.
In terms of debt transparency, the civil society has called for the foot note details with regards to the actual composition of debt.
“There is still room for further improvement, we still need to know the bolts and nuts for us to be able to analyse or understand the nature and quantum of the debt, what it has been used for. That information is good for transparency,” said Moyo.
Bongani Ndlovu