Minister of Finance Felix Mlusu on Friday morning presented a K2.2 trillion, with the highest allocation going to the Ministry of Education.
The 2020/21 budget is about 30.6 percent of the country’s GDP and represents an increase of around 22.9 percent from the 2019/2020 preliminary expenditure outturn.
The Education Sector has been allocated the largest portion of the budget at K384.5 billion which is 21.6 percent of the total budget, representing 5.4 percent of GDP.
The Agriculture Sector has been allocated K354.8 billion and the money will be used for expenses such as operations for Agriculture Departments; maize purchase; the Affordable Input Program; and development projects within the sector.
The Health Sector has received K204.7 billion which is 11.5 percent of the total budget while the Transport and ICT Sector has been allocated K150.6 billion.
Of the total allocation in Transport, K111.4 billion has been allocated to the Roads Fund Administration for construction of roads while K1.4 billion has been allocated towards air and water transport infrastructure.
“Madam Speaker, in order to improve ICT services in the country, Government has set aside K300.0 million in the 2020/2021 budget for the recruitment and training of ICT officers,” said Mlusu.
The government has also allocated K57.8 billion to the Energy Sector while the Governance and Rule of Law Sector has been allocated K52.8 billion.
“I am also pleased to inform this Honourable House that in the 2020/2021 budget, allocations to the Anti-Corruption Bureau, Director of Public Prosecutions, Fiscal Police and the Financial Intelligence Authority have been substantially increased to take care of their financial requirements,” the minister said.
There is also a development budget of K511.2 billion, of which, K410.3 billion is for foreign financed projects while K100.9 billion is for domestically financed projects.
Mlusu in his presentation noted that the Coronavirus pandemic has affected revenue with monthly tax revenue collections dropping by almost 11.0 percent.
He, however, assured Malawians that Government will still endeavor to create a conducive environment to jump start the economy and spur growth, generate adequate revenue to finance the budget and deliver quality public services to the nation.
