Former finance minister in the previous government has described the proposed 2020/2021 National Budget estimates as consumptive as opposed to developmental oriented.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesperson on finance Joseph Mwanamvekha said this in Parliament in his party`s response to the K2.1 trillion budget.

In an interview, Mwanamvekha said the budget is not meeting expectations of Malawians in accordance with promises of the Tonse Alliance government.

“I would say that indeed the budget that was presented on 11 September is indeed a sham as described by many stakeholders including CAMA,” he said.

Mwanamvekha said most of the underlined assumptions on Gross Domestic Product (GDP), inflation and exchange rate in the proposed budget are unrealistic considering that revenues have reduced significantly due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Even the exchange rate as we speak now the dollar is almost close to K900 but they are saying the exchange rate will be stable at K750 that is a lie,” he said.