Biti to present supp budget in July
Prime Minister Tsvangirai launching the government's 100-day action plan at the Rainbow Towers hotel in Harare. (Pic by Farai Maringosi)
HARARE – The government is considering presenting a mid-term budget review in July under which Finance Minister Tendai Biti will unveil additional revenue measures to bridge an anticipated funding gap of more than US$200 million, says Samuel Itam, International Monetary Fund (IMF) executive director for Zimbabwe.
The IMF said the Zimbabwean authorities had acknowledged in meetings with the Fund that the revenue estimates for 2009 presented by Biti in March were rather optimistic while expenditure targets were substantially understated.
It is estimated that the government would miss its revenue target of US$1 billion by between US$100 and US$150 million while the expenditure estimate would have to factor in about US$80 million in overhead expenses for parastatals as well as up to a projected US$300 million increase in humanitarian assistance this year.
This would translate to a financing gap of at least US$200 million, necessitating a revisit of the 2009 budget estimates.
As a contingency plan in case of a shortfall in revenue, the authorities will consider measures to raise additional revenue in July 2009 – including increasing royalties on mineral resources and broadening the VAT and customs tax bases – to ensure the provision of critical public services (including food relief, education and health), said Itam in a statement released last week.
The proposed measures could see a substantial hike in taxes and the inclusion of goods and services until now exempted from tax and import duty.
Zimbabwe has adopted a cash budgeting system under which government expenditure should match its revenue in a move meant to ensure ministries spend within their means.
In this regard, the Harare authorities have stepped up the collection of customs and excise duties as well as value-added tax which are expected to account for 60 percent of budget revenue.
The government is under intense pressure to increase public sector wages, cognisant that maintaining the current flat civil service allowance of US$ 100 per month would weaken civil service morale.
Itam also announced that the Zimbabwean government had indicated it would by the end of the year explore the merits of a possible re-introduction of the Zimbabwe dollar after taking into account all requisite conditions.
The conditions include sustained pursuance of the economic recovery programme and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) reforms to improve the central bank's credibility and accountability.
Zimbabwe last month suspended the use of the Zimbabwe dollar for next 12 months in a move aimed at protecting the value of the local currency after years of speculative pressure blamed on the RBZ's quasi-fiscal activities.
Latest on missing MDC activists
BY GIFT PHIRI
HARARE – The MDC national council will today decide whether to ask regional leaders to intervene in the case of seven party activists whose whereabouts remain unknown, months after they were abducted from their homes by gun-toting state secret agents.
MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said the party — that agreed to join the unity government last February after President Robert Mugabe among other undertakings promised to ensure release of all political prisoners including the missing seven – wrote to the Attorney General's (AG) office more than a week ago demanding release of the activists.
AG Johannes Tomana was not immediately available for comment on the matter.
But Chamisa said Tomana's office had not responded to the MDC letter by end of business on Friday and the national council that meets in Masvingo today to review progress of the unity government would decide whether to take the matter to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union (AU).
The SADC and the AU are the guarantors of the global political agreement (GPA) that gave birth to the power-sharing government.
Our lawyers wrote to the AG last week demanding the release of the seven, said the MDC spokesman.
"The state’s failure to produce these persons in court or to release them is a patent violation of these important undertakings and the MDC and its lawyers have no option but to approach the guarantors of the GPA, the African Union and SADC," he said.
Scores of other activists from Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's party abducted around the same time as the missing seven have since been released on bail pending trial on charges of terrorism and plotting to overthrow Mugabe – charges they deny and which the MDC says are trumped up.
But the authorities have professed complete ignorance about the whereabouts of the missing abductees, raising fears about their safety and security.
The MDC has said the missing seven activists are: Gwenzi Kahiya – abducted 29 October last year in Zvimba, Ephraim Mabeka – abducted 10 December in Gokwe, together with Lovemore Machokoto Charles Muza and Edmore Vangirayi all snatched from Gokwe the same day.
Graham Matehwa, abducted December 17 in Makoni South and Peter Munyanyi, abducted December 13 in Gutu South are still unaccounted for.
The MDC activists were all seized from their homes by armed men driving in unmarked cars. They have not been heard from since they were abduction and there have been no assurances of their wellbeing or even confirmation that they are being held by any of the state security agencies.
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa refused to discuss the matter on Friday. "I don't know where they are," was all he would say.
In the letter to the AG's office the MDC made it clear that the continued detention of its activists was a "major threat" to the power-sharing agreement with Zanu (PF), according to Chamisa.
During negotiations leading to the consummation of the global political agreement, Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara agreed that all political prisoners would be released as a confidence building measure.
However, the failure to release the seven activists is only one on a long list of commitments Mugabe has failed to keep since formation of the unity government
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