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Farirai Machivenyika-Senior Reporter

Consultations for the 2023 national Budget have begun with Parliament holding public hearings across the country to elicit people’s views.

The public hearings are being held jointly by the Portfolio Committee on Budget, Finance and Economic Development and the Committee on the Expanded Sustainable Development Goals.

The meetings began on Monday and will end on Friday 

Parliament said in a statement the meetings are scheduled for Mt Darwin, Shamva, Guruve, Goromonzi, Nkayi, Mhondoro, Nyanga, Ngundu, Masvingo, Chipinge, and Bulawayo, giving a cross section of communities that can provide input.

The chairman of the Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee, Dr Matthew Nyashanu, urged the public to take part in the hearings.

“The hearings are important in ensuring that Government takes into account the people’s views when crafting the Budget. 

“As Parliament it is part of our mandate to ensure that people’s concerns are captured in the Budget so we urge them to take part in the meetings,” Dr Nyashanu said.

Mutasa North legislator Cde Chido Mudiwa, who is leading a team that will conduct hearings in Mashonaland Central, said people should feel free to air their views.

“The public hearings are one of the platforms for people to air their views, but they can also hand in written submissions to Parliament as it is their democratic right to do so,” she said.

After the public hearings, MPs will also convene in Victoria Falls for the annual pre-budget seminar where they will interact with ministers and other members of the executive.

The national Budget is expected to set the tone for the growth of the economy next year and fit in with the needed progress towards Government’s Vision 2030 of having a middle income economy by 2030.

Last year, Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube issued a $927 billion budget, but had a supplementary budget of $929 billion when the rising inflationary spike in the second quarter, coming down in the third, was higher than anticipated so needing adjustment to both the income and expenditure figures. 

Although the nominal figures had to be basically doubled across the budget, the revised Budget was still largely in balance with minimal borrowings.