PMRC urges full implementation of IFMIS for accountability
By Staff Reporter
Policy Monitoring and Research Centre (PMRC) has urged the roll out of the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) to all government departments and agencies to ensure that no expenditure occurs outside the system.
PMRC executive director, Bernadette Zulu said that the domestic debt stock at the end of March 2019 was K58.21 billion, representing 21 percent of GDP.
Zulu anticipated that in 2019 the growth of the economy would slow down due to adverse weather conditions negatively impacting agriculture production and the energy sector.
She noted with concern the recent depreciation of the Zambian Kwacha against other convertible currencies, saying there was need for the Government to come up with measures that guarantee stable exchange rates to hedge against rising interest payments on sovereign debt.
“Government should put in mitigation measures to reduce impact of adverse weather conditions in the agriculture and energy sectors and the consequential negative impact on the GDP. PMRC further encourages Government to roll out the IFMIS to all Government ministries, provinces, departments and agencies to ensure that no expenditure occurs outside the system,” she said.
She further implored Government to continue providing an enabling environment for increased investment in renewable energy and adoption of climate smart agricultural practices.
“Inflation over the first four months of 2019 remained within the target band of 6-8 percent with an average of 7.7 percent from an average of 8.0 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018.
Reserves position at the end of February 2019, she said, was US $1.43 billion (1.6 months import cover) from US $1.56 million (1.8 months of import cover) at the end of 2018,”she said.
She said that the revenue side in the first quarter of 2019, domestic revenues stood at K14.99 billion representing a 4.4 percent margin above the target.
Zulu has however said that the expenditure side domestically financed expenditure amounted K12.8 billion, representing a margin of 11.5 percent below target projection.
