Malawi Parliament passes K1.3 trillion budget

Members of Parliament on Thursday approved the K1.3 trillion 2017/18 national budget, giving government the go ahead to spend the money starting July 1.

The budget was passed after four days of committee of supply deliberations which started on Monday.

However, on Thursday there were disagreements on allocations as legislators wanted the Constituency Development Fund to be increased by K12 million. The demands were snubbed by Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe who argued that the money is abused. He however accepted a K2 million increase for the fund.

Later, the budget was passed. Following the approval, the ministry of Agriculture and Water Development has received the highest chuck of the budget with K198.5 billion being allocated to the ministry against the proposed K192 billion.

It is followed by the Ministry of Education Science and Technology which has been allocated K147.6 billion, more than K100 billion less than the K235 billion Gondwe proposed in May.

Major projects under the budget include construction of Shire Valley Irrigation Project, Agriculture Productivity Program for Southern Africa (APPSA) and Mzimba Integrated Urban Water and Sanitation Project in the agriculture sector.

Government will also construct three Teachers Training College for primary and secondary school teachers and community hospitals and rehabilitate the railway system and construct various city and feeder roads under the transport sector.