By JUDITH  NAMUTOWE –
AS FINANCE Minister Alexander Chikwanda presents the 2016 national Budget to Parliament today, the Economic Association of Zambia (EAZ) expects the Government to work at narrowing the Budget deficit.
EAZ president Chrispin Mphuka said it was important that the Government seriously addressed the deficit considering that it had serious implications on the economy.
“Our hope is that Government must ensure that the Budget deficit is narrowed because it has serious implications,” Dr Mphuka said.
He also said that the Government should slow down on borrowing and ensure debt was adequately dealt with.
Dr Mphuka said that the debt had been increasing at an alarming rate, hence the need for the Government to slow down in that area.
Considering that 2016 is an election year, Dr Mphuka said the Government should put in place some mechanism to ensure that the economic environment was not compromised.
He said it was important that the Government put in place measures that would win back the confidence from investors even after elections.
Meanwhile, the National Union for Small Scale Farmers of Zambia (NUSSFZ) has urged the Government to consider reducing tax on irrigation and processing equipment in the 2016 national Budget.
NUSSFZ director general Frank Kayula said in an interview in Lusaka yesterday that doing so would allow small-scale farmers in the country to produce throughout the year.
Mr Kayula also said that reducing tax on irrigation equipment would further allow farmers cut down on imports thereby enabling Zambians produce equipment which was being imported.
He said the Government should recapitalise Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia (NCZ) to enable it supply fertiliser to small-scale farmers in the country.