K508 million allocated to districts, provinces for Covid-19

DISTRICTS and provinces have been allocated a total of K508 million to fund the Covid-19 response, says Finance Minister Rainbo Paita.
He told Parliament on Tuesday that each district received K2 million and each province K1.5 million.
“My department made a breakdown of the funding but we also considered the fact that priority areas (differ) for provinces and districts,” he said.
“We’ve set out guidelines, and the money is already in the province trust accounts and district trust accounts.
“The guidelines are there, like for SMEs (small to medium enterprises) for example. It is up to the provinces and districts to decide what areas to prioritise.
“There is a high flexibility as to what their priorities are and how they use the money.”
Paita clarified that the Covid-19 funding was additional to the service improvement programme funds allocated.