Govt Wants Parliament To Okay Over US$10 Billion Unauthorised And Unexplained Expenditure - Report

The Zimbabwean government last Thursday published the Financial Adjustment Bill HB19 of 2019 in which it seeks to be pardoned for borrowing and spending US$10 679 603 044 without consent from Parliament.

If a government ministry or department spends money in any financial year in excess of the amount appropriated, or for a purpose for which nothing was appropriated, the Minister of Finance is required, in terms of section 3017 of the Constitution, to cause a Bill condoning the unauthorised expenditure … In line with the above, we seek condonation for unauthorised expenditures incurred by line ministries.

The Bill has already attracted criticism from the chairperson of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee, former Finance Minister, Tendai Biti who said that the government stole the money and was unfairly burdening the taxpayer with the responsibility of clearing the debt.