By Linda Kwanjana

Minister of Finance has delivered budget statement in which he has unbundled Government strategies commitment aimed at bringing the economy back on its track.

Mwanamveka said said as part of Government commitment to public debt management and fiscal discipline, Government is implementing reforms including strict expenditure control measures such as minimising travel, limiting procurement of high-value assets, and managing the wage bill.

He said Government is implementing measures of minimizing the gap between revenue and expenditure requirement by fully adopting a cash budgeting approach that strictly aligns funding with available resources rather than projected cash flows.

He said Government also intends to scrutinize the wage bill which stand taking away up almost 40 percent of the country’s domestic revenue.

“In this regard, as already announced by the Office of the President and Cabinet, Government has put a moratorium on new recruitments except for key sectors, which will be done on case by case basis. The moratorium will be longer for MDAs which had massive recruitments,” he said.

He said as part of revamping the economy, Government plans to put up measures of reducing over expenditure.

“Government will conduct payroll audit and headcount for all public servants starting from 9th December 2025. Therefore, all public servants will be required to present themselves physically for the headcount and submit all relevant documentation,” He said.

Some of the detailed expenditure control measures as announced by Government include only three external trips for Cabinet Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Controlling Officers, Chief Executive Officers and Senior Management of State own enterprises after seeking approval from the relevant authority.

Mwanamveka said all Controlling Officers of MDAs, Heads of SOEs, Chairpersons, Board Members and Executive Management will, with immediate effect, travel on economy class.

On procurement of motor vehicles, Mwanamveka said ,  Government has put a moratorium on procurement of new vehicles and high value assets until further notice.

He said on special cases, Controlling Officers are advised to seek approval from the Office of the President and Cabinet.