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Government should urgently resolve the implementation challenges for the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) given the tight fiscal space.
It is important to also accelerate the review of relevant framework such as the CDF Act No. 11 of 2018 and its guidelines to address the implementation bottlenecks.
This is according to Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUT) acting Centre Coordinator Angela Mulenga.
Mulenga said on Monday in Zambia’s capital Lusaka that this would be very important in ensuring the efficient use of resources.
“We are concerned with the unresolved implementation challenges arising from the CDF given the tight fiscal space,” she said.
On the debt restructuring, Mulenga challenged Government to publish a timeline on Zambia’s debt restructuring process to allow citizens and other stakeholders be informed on the procedure.
She said it was prudent for Government to avail information to the citizens on the time it would take to conclude the process.
“The Valley is squarely in the court of the Ministry of Finance and National Planning to lead the way in public disclosure of information and to expedite the establishment of a debt Office that will play akey role in providing oversight,” Mulenga said.
Read more: Utilisation of Constituency Development Fund rated below 10%, government urged to act https://www.zambiamonitor.com/utilisation-of-constituency-development-fund-rated-below-10-government-urged-to-act/
Read more: Lumezi Town Council disburses K690,380 under Constituency Development Fund Zambia Monitor | Latest Zambian News, Latest News in Zambia
Going forward, she stated, amending the public Debt Management Act of 2022 to include provisions relating to collective agreement clauses and other conditionalities that may arise in dealing with international sovereign debt restructuring legislation.
Meanwhile, Mulenga stressed the need for Government to reduce its appetite for domestic borrowing which has crowded out the small and medium entrepreneurs and made access to finance more costly and less accessible.
She pointed out that reining in of domestic borrowing would avail more resources to the private sector and spur economic growth.
“It is worth noting that the private sector plays an important role in the growth of the economy,” Mulenga said.
And CUTS programme officer Allan Chitwamali, emphasised on the need to review and revisit the CDF guidelines to ensure its intended purpose of decentralisation.
Consumer Unity and Trust Society programme officer Allan Chitwamali
“We need to speed up revision of CDF guidelines and act so that they are reinforced to encourage decentralisation. These are key to ensure its intended usefulness.” Chitwamali said.
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