Ministry of Finance & National Planning Presents Economic Symposium Findings
Felix Nkulukusa, the Secretary to the Treasury, presented the Ministry of Finance & National Planning’s findings at the National Symposium on the 2023 Economic Performance and 2024 Budget & Economic Outlook.
The presentation covered various aspects of economic developments, budget performance, and future outlook.
Global Growth: The global growth rate was forecasted to slow down to 3.0 percent in 2023 from the 3.5 percent recorded in 2022. Factors such as commodity price hikes, geopolitical tensions, conflicts, and climate shocks posed downside risks.
Domestic Economy: The domestic economy performed stronger than initially projected in 2023. Real GDP growth per quarter showed positive trends, attributed to the positive performance of sectors like ICT, construction, financial services, and mining.
Revenue Overperformance: The budget saw enhanced resource mobilization, with a 7.7% over-performance on revenue and grants. This was attributed to positive contributions from tax revenues, non-tax revenues, and grants from development partners.
Fiscal Consolidation: The country achieved fiscal consolidation with minimal deviation from the approved budget (4.4%) and a positive primary balance.
External Debt: The external debt stock increased to US $14.3 billion as of end-September 2023, driven by disbursements on existing project loans from multilateral institutions and bilateral creditors.
Domestic Debt: The domestic debt stock increased to K232.6 billion at end-December 2023 from K210.0 billion at end-2022, primarily due to increased domestic refinancing and budget support.
Arrears: Audited and verified domestic arrears amounted to K91.2 billion as of end-September 2023, with the government implementing a strategy to reduce arrears through budgetary allocations.
The Ministry outlined key macroeconomic objectives for 2024, including real GDP growth of at least 4.8%, reducing inflation to the 6-8% target band, maintaining foreign exchange reserves above 3 months of import cover, increasing domestic revenues, reducing the fiscal deficit, and limiting domestic borrowing.
In conclusion, the Ministry emphasized the importance of collaborative efforts among various sectors to achieve sustained economic growth. They urged for a unified approach to address challenges and grow the economy, highlighting the potential benefits of increased collaboration and economic growth for all sectors.
