By CHATULA  KANGALI –
THE Government has said  the recent increment in the maize purchasing price will not put the 2016 national Budget under strain because of the increase in revenue collection this year.
Last week, President Edgar Lungu directed the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) to increase the maize purchasing price from K75 to K85 for a 50 kilogramme bag.
Deputy Finance Minister Christopher Mvunga said in an interview that the increase in the maize price would not negatively affect this year’s Budget.
He said that Government had seen an increase in revenue collection for the year.
Mr Mvunga was commenting on concerns by the Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) that the increase in the maize purchase price would put this year’s budget under strain.
CSPR executive director Patrick Nshindano said that Government would go beyond the K750 million which was allocated in this year’s budget if a 50 Kg bag of maize has to be purchased at K85.
“This year we had a bumper harvest, which is a plus to us because food for the  country has  been secured, the increase in the  floor  price of maize will not have any negative  impact  on this year’s  Budget  because our  revenue  collection this year  has also increased,” he said.
Mr Mvunga said Government was hopeful that the kwacha would in the next few weeks rebound because of the increase in investor confidence.
He said the just-ended Africa Development Bank (AfDB) meeting which was held in Lusaka had attracted foreign firms to invest in the Zambian economy.