POLICY ANALYST WARNS WEAK FISCAL OVERSIGHT COULD DERAIL ZAMBIA’S ECONOMIC GROWTH GOALS
A Policy Analyst Dr. Kelvin Chibomba has cautioned that Zambia may struggle to meet its economic growth projections without the implementation of strict fiscal discipline measures.
Dr. Chibomba warns that unchecked administrative spending and poor oversight, both threaten to erode the progress made through ongoing debt restructuring efforts, re-enforcing concerns raised on Wednesday by the Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants-ZICA around the impact of Zambia’s debt restructuring.
ZICA highlighted that the overall impact of the positive steps in public debt renegotiation remains minimal, citing rising administrative expenditures, such as those flagged in the auditor general’s report on the Constituency Development Fund-CDF, as potential deterrents to investor confidence and sustainable growth.
Dr. Chibomba has urged the government to reinforce transparency and accountability by strengthening monitoring systems, through rigorous project selections, real-time expenditure tracking, and regular performance audits to prevent resource leakages and ensure tangible development outcomes.
He has further stressed that local revenue generation, critical to economic stability, must be rooted in credible fiscal management, value addition and private sector development, contending that national goals can only be achieved through clear reporting standards and robust enforcement mechanisms.
PN