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Speech at the 2012 Government Work Programme (GWP) review and 2013 budget consultations
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
October 29, 2012

Vice President Hon. Joyce Mujuru

Hon. Deputy Prime Minister Prof. Authur Mutambara

Honourable Ministers and Deputy Ministers

Permanent Secretaries and Senior Government Officials

Invited Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen

Today, we meet amidst a tight fiscal squeeze against increasing national demands that must be borne by this inclusive government.

We meet here to deliberate on the 2013 national budget; a budget that will drive and finance a critical year of many national processes such as the elections and the referendum as well as the many demands that our people will expect to be addressed by this government.

While the date for the next referendum is still unclear; and while the President and I have yet to agree on a date for the next election, it is certain that these expensive processes will have to be held in 2013.

Overview

The Medium Term Plan (MTP), which was launched in 2011, remains the Government of Zimbabwe's Vision to 2015, with the Government Work Program (GWP) being adopted as the implementation framework.

The GWP, which has been running for three years now since its first edition was approved by the Cabinet on the 9th of March 2010, has set the MTP economic trajectory in motion.

As in 2010 and 2011, the 2012 GWP Objectives were derived from the five key government priorities; namely, Promoting Economic Growth and Ensuring Food Security, Guarantee Basic Services, Strengthening and Ensuring the Rule of Law and Respect for Property Rights, Advancing and Safeguarding Basic Freedoms through Legislative Reform and the Constitutional Process and Re-establishing International Relations.

These key Government priorities have not changed and are extracted from the MTP Vision for Zimbabwe to be a growing, transforming and globally competitive economy, with jobs, equity, freedom and democracy.

In 2012, GWP recorded a subdued performance for the eight months to August, mainly as a result of liquidity challenges.

As you may now all be aware of, the 2012 projected budget was revised downwards from US$4 billion to US$3.6 billion, with GDP growth projections of 9.4 percent revised downwards to 5.6 percent, a figure far below the MTP target of 7.1 percent.

This was mainly as a result of the underperformance in agriculture, problems related to our own policy discord, erratic power supply, water shortages, high cost of borrowing, limited irrigation capacity and obsolete machinery. Furthermore, the implementation of non monetary matters like legislative and governance issues, especially in the area of key reforms, has been very slow.

The need for continued effective planning, utilization of scarce resources towards critical areas as indicated in Ministerial targets and the commitment to make follow ups remains critical amongst line Ministries. Among these critical targets is the acute water shortage in Bulawayo to which we must all pay particular attention to bring relief to residents and the few businesses that remain in our second largest city.

Despite these challenges, I would like to commend Line Ministries for their continued resilience amid the current fiscal environment which has seen almost all of us failing to discharge of our ministerial mandates.

Expectations of the 2013 National Budget

As I said, 2013 is by far the most challenging budget year of this Inclusive Government because of the financial demands of what lies ahead of us.

It is also a difficult year as we try to consolidate our gains as a coalition government and to break out of the vicious poverty trap by acting on the key government priorities as highlighted in the MTP, a task which remains difficult given our limited resources.

All Line Ministries are expected to continue religiously performing on their mandate to the people of Zimbabwe by delivering services amid the high expectations arising from the national activities of 2013 and the continued limited fiscal space. In short, the people's demands for basic services are not going to be put in abeyance simply because this government has a referendum and an election to fund. The people will continue to have high expectations for government to meet their needs, despite these other commitments that are going to put a major strain on our limited fiscus.

To this end, it is everyone's hope that we collect every little revenue and that we improve transparency especially in our diamonds. Zimbabweans must be satisfied that as government, we have played our part by coming clean on diamonds and other revenue to enable us to meet our financial obligations. I was in Botswana for four days last week and the footprints of their diamonds are visible. There is visible growth in the economy and evident investment into critical areas such as health, education and infrastructure rehabilitation.

The Hon. Minister of Finance is faced with a mammoth task of budgeting for the financial year of 2013. I have no doubt that his experience and the experience of the team in his Ministry will come handy as we brace to deliver on our key mandates as a government in what is set to be a critical year of many burdens and responsibilities.

I would also like to acknowledge the Ministry of Finance's role in organizing for this and other budget consultations nationwide.

It is important to get input from various stakeholders so that our budget is guided by the expectations of ordinary people and the various other sectors that have a key role to play across the social and economic spectrum.

These consultations, coupled with a clear understanding of the Pre-Budget Strategy Paper, inform debate on key fiscal and other macro-economic policy issues towards the building of national consensus over some of the priorities that should be addressed through the Budget.

In conclusion, let me emphasize that the decisions that we take today and the areas where we spend our limited dollars will live with us in years to come.

Let us not be tempted to take short term decisions for short term convenience because the pain of policy reversal will be felt by future generations and the future administrations.

Let us understand the importance of the resources we must expend and commit to key enablers such as energy, transport, water, housing, education, health, ICTs and infrastructure rehabilitation. This will define who we are and what kind of country we bequeath to the next generations.

It is important as we plan for 2013, to look at ways of addressing the endemic poverty facing the people of this country. In the past 15 years, the informal sector has played an important part in breathing some life into this economy. As we develop a vision for this country, we must prioritize this sector and ensure that we develop a sustainable plan for them to play a meaningful part in the economic activities of this country.

My heart bleeds when I think of the many young people still waiting for their first job.

The inclusive government has stabilized the economy but mere stabilization without growth and without job creation will give no reprieve for the jobless and the marginalized. This is the challenge for the Inclusive Government and future administrations. It will remain the collective responsibility for all Zimbabweans and one hopes that this budget will lay the basis for the country's development in key sectors that will not only drive this economy, but provide jobs to millions of the jobless in our country.

We are all aware that whenever we have demonstrated unity of purpose and a common vision, nothing has stopped us as a nation.

For me, last week felt like one more step in that direction when we worked in peace at the Second All-Stakeholders Conference as we made a giant step towards having our own Constitution.

It is the same spirit that must drive us as Government: to put the interests of this country and its people first especially as deliberate on this crucial 2013 budget and the key priorities where we should spend our limited dollars.

I know we will succeed! God bless Zimbabwe!

I thank you

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