24 Oct 2016

Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mr Kenneth Matambo has said during the National Development Plan (NDP) 11 implementation period, the economy is expected to grow in real terms, at an average rate of 4.4 per cent.
Speaking at a workshop for Members of Parliament on the draft NDP 11, 2017/18-2022/23, Mr Matambo said the expected growth was an improvement compared to the estimated average growth rate of 3.9 per cent for the NDP 10 period.
He however said a growth rate of 4.4 per cent was still considered to be somewhat low given the development challenges and when compared to higher growth rates in the previous years.
The minister noted that to create jobs and reduce poverty and income inequality required higher growth rates.
The theme for NDP 11 is Inclusive Growth for the Realisation of Sustainable Employment Creation and Poverty Eradication. And according to the fiance minister, the theme was in recognition of the three development challenges of unemployment, poverty and income inequality.
Mr Matambo said high unemployment, poverty and income inequality still remained major challenges in the country’s development agenda, therefore it was for this reason that NDP 11 placed emphasis on inclusive economic growth and not just growth.
Inclusive growth by definition is a concept that advocates for equitable opportunities during economic growth with benefits accruing to every segment of the society.
Furthermore, the finance and economic development minister, said better or improved growth prospects for NDP 11 was not only important for job creation and poverty reduction, but also for enhancing government revenues.
“As indicated in the draft plan, government is expected to run budget deficits for the first three years of the plan due to a combination of slow growth in revenues and high expenditure pressures associated with implementation of several critical projects,” he said.
He also noted that it was necessary to continue implementation of the ESP, which was introduced during the latter part of NDP 10 in order to boost economic activity, promote economic diversification and create jobs.
Therefore, the challenge during NDP 11, Mr Matambo said was to expand the domestic revenue base and to ensure that the bulk of the revenues were derived from non-mineral sources.
He therefore said continued efforts to promote growth of the non-mining sectors by adopting appropriate policies and strategies that encourage private sector development and export-led growth was critical.
Minister Matambo also said there would be need to maintain vigilance on the growth of government expenditure and with budget deficit projected for the first three years of the plan to be about four per cent of GDP, it would be important to enforce financial discipline to minimise on wastage and improve on expenditure efficiency.
He added that the value of each Pula spent by government was therefore critical in terms of its impact on the economy. ENDS