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| Gladys Ganda |
The Daily Times has discovered that in the 2022-23 national budget, which concluded on March 21, the government overspent by K477.44 billion. The total budget approved by Parliament for last fiscal year was K2.84 trillion, but total expenditure amounted to K3.317 trillion, with statutory obligations and public debt charges being the top overspent budget lines. The Finance Minister presented a Supplementary Appropriation Bill to regularize the overspending. Other institutions that spent above their budgets included subvented organisations, the Malawi Defence Force, Ministry of Information, Malawi Police Service, Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Homeland Security, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Immigration and several local councils.
The Chairperson of the Budget and Finance Committee of Parliament, Gladys Ganda, commented that while the committee appreciates that the country faced several crises, such as the 25% devaluation of the Kwacha, cholera outbreak, and Tropical Cyclone Freddy, the over-expenditure is still on the higher side. Ganda said that due to limited resources that the country has, any over-expenditure translates to more unapproved borrowing, and there is a need for the government to respect the budget approved by Parliament. Ganda also suggested that there is a need to review the Public Finance Management Act and tighten budget spending by the government.
Kondwani Santhe, the Executive Director of the National Local Government Finance Committee, explained that his organization's capital budget was revised downwards from K65.3 billion to K25.2 billion at midyear, which was not supposed to be the case. Additionally, the Social Support for Resilient Livelihoods Project received additional financing approved by Parliament, which led to disbursements in January 2023 and actual expenditure being at K141.5 billion. Santhe stated that the resources were used for increased enrollment of beneficiaries for additional funds under the Climate Smart Enhanced Public Works Program and social cash transfers.
Financial accountability advocate Willy Kambwandira has stated that the trend of overspending is worrisome and should only be explained through an audit or investigation. Kambwandira believes that the overspending is a result of lack of good governance and fiscal discipline, which are resulting in misallocation of resources and increasing costs of doing business.