Finance Deputy Minister Adam Malima
Addressing the National Assembly in Dodoma, the deputy minister
said the government will not stop borrowing because it needs the money
to implement development project and he singled out the Rural Energy
Agency (REA) project as an example of where the borrowed money will go.
The deputy minister’s details were in response to a supplementary
question posed by Mbozi Legislator David Silinde (Chadema) who wanted to
know why the government continues to borrow to fund development
projects despite the raising national debt.
Responding, Malima said; “the government has continued to borrow
because the government has committed itself to serve its people... we
are not taking loans for personal interest but for the interest of the
public.”
Similarly, in her basic question, Special Seat MP Amina Abdalah
Amour (CUF) inquired as to why the government has failed to allocate 30
per cent of its budget to development project as pledged.
She also queried as to government preparations to ensure the budget is not donor dependent.
Malima told the House that the government cannot allocate 30
percent of its budget to development projects because it allocates the
lion’s share of the budget to recurrent expenditures such as paying
salaries of public servants.
“We cannot avoid being donor dependent due to the nature of development that we have,” the deputy minister told the legislators.
However, Malima was keen to note that because the government
recognises the challenges of being donor dependent, it is working to
increase domestic revenues to help fund development projects.
According to Malima, the donors’ contribution to the national
budget has decreased from 22 per cent in 2012/2013 to 10 per cent this
financial year.
The deputy minister said the government has also increased the
budget for development project from Sh. 2.95 trillion in 2013/14 to Sh.
5.9 trillion in 2015/16 an increment of 100.4 per cent.
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