2015/16 Budget: Civil society laud reduction in aid dependency

The civil society has commended the government’s move to fund a large part of the 2015/2016 Budget through domestically sourced revenues. The Budget was presented to Parliament yesterday by the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, Claver Gatete, before a joint plenary session of Senators and Members of Parliament. As has been the trend in recent years, domestic revenues for this fiscal year rose, to Rwf 1,174.2 billion – 66 per cent of the total Budget – up from 62 per cent in current fiscal year. The rest of the budget, Rwf 594 billion, will be funded through grants and loans, at 20 per cent and 14 per cent respectively. The rise in domestic funding has been consistent in recent years, in the 2013/2014 Budget, the domestic revenues stood at 60.2 per cent. The Rwandan Civil Society Platform and other advocacy groups welcomed the development, saying less aid dependency would cushion the economy against shocks resulting from aid cuts as was the case in the 2012/2013 fiscal year. Edouard Munyamaliza, the president of the platform, told The New Times that it was in the best interest of the nation as it works towards achieving amiddle income status by 2020. “This has been money that mostly comes with conditionalities which we are trying to move away from,” Munyamaliza said. Josephine Uwamariya, the Country Director of Action Aid, termed the government’s move as strategic in cushioning the economy against shocks and foreign influence. Uwamariya, commended the focus on reducing vulnerability of agriculture production, and speeding up energy and infrastructure projects as they would further improve the investment potential of the country. The agricultural sector received Rwf 120 billion, and is expected to grow by 5.2 per cent in 2015. “The cost of energy required for viable investments is still quite high, concentration on energy projects coupled with infrastructure development, will be a positive addition to the investment ecosystem and beneficial to the general public,” Uwamariya noted. Contentious issues The civil society, however, expressed concern with budget execution by ministries and agencies, saying they were stalling national development. In their analysis submitted to Parliament and the Ministry of Finance based on the Budget Framework Paper, the group’s sticking point was centred around the pace of implementation of several government projects. The body argued that key large scale projects perceived to drive the economy such as Kigali Convention Centre, Karisimbi Project and geothermal projects have stalled despite financial allocation. “There is need for a new mechanism and leadership to establish standards of good project governance that can ultimately be applied across a wide variety of projects across government,” the analysis reads in part. The civil society also called for more decentralisation of allocated funds to increase impact on ordinary citizens. Munyamaliza cited the Ministry of Agriculture as one of the entities which receive huge allocations but are not decentralised to the district level. *********************************** Public reacts to 2015/16 Budget Mariette Macho Mariette Macho The fact that our National Budget increased by Rwf5.8 billion proves the country is on the right path toward development. It shows that our country is economically stable, is improving standards of living, and further growth of the economy is predictable. I urge fellow citizens to be proud of such an achievement and work harder to keep the momentum. Anastase Nshimiyimana Rural development plans make the 2015/2016 Bud promising. I believe this plan will help to eradicate poverty through improved land use, increased agriculture productivity and mainly connecting rural communities to economic opportunity through improved infrastructure. I have no doubt this will bring about sustainable development. Jean Claude Nizeyimana Jean Claude Nizeyimana To me plans of youth empowerment make the Budget an enabler for development. There is no doubt that youth are engines of the development of the country. I believe if youth are empowered through creation of employment opportunities, they’re going to drive this country to higher heights. Fulgence Sebyenda Fulgence Sebyenda Reduction of taxes on some consumer goods such as rice and wheat is one of the best packages in the Budget.Such reduction greatly favours business people dealing in such products. Besides, it even increases the purchasing power. Generally, this year’s Budget is pro-people. Christine Mutesi Christine Mutesi The 2015/2016 Budget is good mainly because it takes into consideration all the major issues that the public raised such as taxation on major consumables, rural development, among others. I believe this year and the coming one are going to see faster growth. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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2015/16 Budget: Civil society laud reduction in aid dependency