The United Democratic Front (UDF) finance spokesperson in Parliament Mussa Kapichila has said the 2024/25 national budget falls short of adequately addressing the chronic challenges facing the economy of Malawi.
Speaking in Parliament on Monday, Kapichila focused on nine key areas that can transform the country’s economic journey and help the nation recover from the economic and natural disasters it has recently endured.
Among others, he said the domestic revenue generation capacity cannot sustain Malawi’s requirements, and this will plunge the country further into debt, the expenditure patterns are generally for consumption and less impactful in accelerating production and development and much of the activities that have been highlighted in the budget do not have an immediate impact on the challenges facing Malawians today.
“We note that some sectors are underdeveloped and underutilized. These have the potential to generate revenue that can help reduce the budget deficit. We are deeply concerned with the state of our food security and the misallocation of resources in the Agriculture sector.
“The UDF has serious concerns about the economic status of our nation the limited revenue generation capacity from taxes and the increasing levels of unsustainable borrowing both domestically and externally. The economic recovery that has been touted in the budget statement is not sustainable and is an artificial fix at best.
The expenditure requirements suggest that non-tax revenue generation should be enhanced while ensuring available resources are allocated to high-growth sectors that can have a high return on investment. Value-for-money should be our guiding principle in all our endeavours if we are to achieve Vision 2063,” he said
The party has suggested that the government should relook at its financing strategies and enhance the non-tax revenue-generating units that can reduce the reliance on borrowing to finance the National Budget.
“Regulating and activating the mining sector should be prioritized to ensure that the country realizes the revenue generated from it. So does the tourism sector, it requires aggressive investments to realize its massive potential.
“The UDF urges the Government to enhance efficiency in the public sector by dealing with overpricing of contracts for goods and services, eliminating unproductive expenditure, and allocating sufficient funds to growth sectors such as mining, tourism and civic and vocational education.
“We urge the Government to upscale the mega farm concept and capacitate local industry to add value to the produce for export. This will go a long way in addressing the forex shortages facing our nation,” said Kapichila
