Budget to be tabled this month 
from Nampa 21.02.2012

WINDHOEK - Namibia’s annual national budget will be tabled towards the end of this month, earlier than last year’s. Since independence, the budget was traditionally tabled in March each year.

Deputy Minister of Finance Calle Schlettwein told Nampa on Monday that this year's budget would be tabled at the end of February, on a date that is yet to be announced.

 "We decided to table the national budget earlier this year so that it can be approved earlier for implementation," he stated.

Asked whether there will be any major surprises in the budget this year, Schlettwein said the big surprise is that the budget is being tabled earlier.

"Other surprises, if there are any, we will hear from the minister's statement during the tabling of the national budget," he said.

Tabling the budget last year, Finance Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila told Parliament that Namibia's 2011/12 budget was geared towards job-creation and economic growth, and also towards meeting the country's short, medium and long-term development goals.

Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said the government will implement a Targeted Intervention Programme for Employment and Economic Growth (TIPEEG) commencing in the 2011/2012 financial year.

TIPEEG will run over the 2011/2012 to 2013/2014 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF).

"This programme is aimed specifically at addressing economic growth and the high unemployment rate through support to strategic growth sectors," she said then.

Government intends to spend N$14.7 billion dollars on job-creation, with N$9.1 billion of this amount to be allocated to targeted key sectors which are agriculture; transport; tourism; housing and sanitation, while public works will make up the balance.

A total of 104 000 direct and indirect jobs were expected to be created through these interventions in the country.

The unemployment rate in the country currently reportedly hovers around an exceptionally high 51.3 per cent.
Meanwhile, President Hifikepunye Pohamba earlier this month issued a clarion call to all institutions and officials involved in the TIPEEG processes to ensure that all bottlenecks that may impede its smooth implementation, are eliminated.

"I am aware that concerns have been raised regarding bureaucratic red tape that has delayed the implementation of some TIPEEG projects," he said at the official opening of the first Cabinet session for this year at State House.

Pohamba stressed that there should be no excuses or justification for lack of action, adding that the TIPEEG machinery must roll smoothly and purposefully to bring about the intended outcomes.

He stressed that all institutions and officials who are involved in the implementation of the national programme should ensure that all its aspects are fully carried out.

"Government has made a deliberate decision to allocate resources to this programme. As such, we as Government, and indeed the Namibian people, expect to see tangible results," Pohamba noted.

Schlettwein was quoted in Thursday's Namibian Sun newspaper edition as saying that the execution of TIPEEG has been described as slow and far below expectation, as it showed an execution rate of 38 per cent by November 2011.

Quelle:New Era