By Shadreck Sindiza  

Development and economic Experts continue expressing divided opinions on the practicality of the 2019/20 budget which has been presented in parliament by the Finance Minister on Monday.

Executive Director of National Planning Commission (NPC), Dr. Thomasi Munthali, said much as government has tried to come up with a promising budget, it is unpleasing to note that it is too ambitious in some areas.

“I think the minister has realized that as a country there is need to focus much on investments but it would have been important for the government to focus on a few strategic priorities, for instance if we had only focused on just three roads, we could easily have finished all those in time instead of having the projects running for five years,” said Munthali.

Economics Association of Malawi (ECAMA) president, Chiku Kalilombe, commended government for coming up with the budget which he says it has put in consideration of the improvement of small scale businesses.

“We would have preferred if there was no deficit but these things happen and with the situation at hand it’s a very tight balancing act that they have to do now, but it’s a step forward,” observed Kalilombe.

Kalilombe has however, expressed reservations on the job creation arguing that the internship program alone is not enough to offset the challenge of unemployment in the country.

“I think it’s mentioning about job creation so we need to wait and seem because if we talk of internship that’s not significant enough considering unemployment levels in the country,” said Kalilombe.

The legislators are expected to meet for the next 5 weeks to discuss on the 2019/20 national economic blueprint pegged at K178.8 trillion.