Expenditure cut to match K494mil shortfall

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THE supplementary budget aims to ensure that despite a K494 million revenue shortfall, the budget deficient will remain at 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product and debt-to-GDP ratio pegged at 32.1 per cent.
Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer Charles Abel said the first thing was to address the costs.
Abel said the whole expenditure was cut to match the K494 million revenue shortfall, adding there would still be adequate funding for essential services in health, tuition fee free education, law and order, and the 2018 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
The Government has organised a reappropriation of K800.1 million to cover costs overruns, including K430 million for personnel emoluments, K150 million for debt-servicing, K50 million for office rentals, K100 million for pharmaceutical drugs, K51 million for the Department of Works and K18.8 million for other commitments.
“We are concerned about the rising cost of running the Government particularly the payroll,” he said.
“However we recognise that adjustment to salaries and wages and most of the other operational expenditures in the short-term are largely fixed.
“Therefore, the main adjustments have to come from capital expenditures or PIP and other development projects.”
Abel said to guide this process, the key performance criteria were applied to the refocusing of capital expenditures and other development projects.