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| | | Title | TAKING THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED: In Pursuit of Fiscal Consolidation “Delivering Fiscal Consolidation for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth”: Analysis of the 2019 National Budget | | Subject | Budget | | Date of Publication | 201810 | | Publisher | Zambia Institute for Policy Analysis and Research (ZIPAR) | | Number of Pages | 20 pages | | Language | English | | Geographical Coverage | Zambia | | Keywords | Zambia National Budget, Zambia Macroeconomic Programming in Times of Austerity, Zambia Promoting Private Sector Led Economic Growth, Public Debt Stock | | Abstract | For the fourth year in a row, Zambia’s Budget in 2019 will focus on fiscal consolidation. Clearly, the country’s approaches to fiscal management over the past few years did not deliver the desired fiscal outcomes. Most likely, this is because some worthwhile fiscal paths were not sufficiently understood or were not pursued. But, of these fiscal paths, which one should Zambia find and take in 2019? What should the authorities do in order to ensure that the 2019 Budget delivers fiscal consolidation? Taking the road less travelled will be a necessary precondition for eventually re-establishing robust, sustained and inclusive growth – but that road can be bumpy and Zambia is currently travelling over a rough section Until relatively recently Zambia’s macro-economic fundamentals were reasonably sound. Growth has been slower than expected but most macro-economic targets were being met, inflation - with a blip in August 2018 – has been within the 6-8% target and the kwacha has remained relatively stable. However, over the last few months something’s changed – the fiscal position has worsened and this had fed through into a lack of investor confidence. Outturn growth has been lower than expected and since the beginning of September the kwacha has lost 20% of its value against the dollar. | | Copyright Holder | Zambia Institute for Policy Analysis and Research (ZIPAR) | | Copyright URL | http://www.zipar.org.zm | | Filesize | 675517 MB | | File Format | PDF | | [ View / download original document ] |
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