Internal and external debt servicing and the public sector wage bill accounted for 77.78% of the government’s K14.4 billion expenditure for May, the Ministry of Finance and National Planning has disclosed.
In an update on the May 2024 budget releases, the ministry stated that K4.1 billion went to external debt payments and K3.2 paid for internal debt. The public service wage bill was the other single big-ticket expense item at K3.9 billion.
Grant-aided institutions, including schools, received K359 million, while the social cash transfer took K250 million of the K1 billion disbursed for transfers, subsidies, and social benefits. Various developmental programs and general operations took K1.8 billion.
K160 million was released for the procurement of drugs and other medical supplies, and K328.8 million was released for capital expenditures “to ensure that road infrastructure projects remain on course.”
Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane said the treasury would continue to pursue transformational reforms and initiatives aimed at attaining an optimum value for money equilibrium.
Further, he said the support rendered by cooperating partners, including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, bore clear testimony to the international community’s confidence in the Zambian government’s economic transformation reforms.
He said their support also reflected the international community’s firm willingness to work with Zambia, albeit under difficult circumstances “exacerbated by the drought situation, which has led to widespread power and food supply shortages.”
