On the 16th of March, 2016, the Economic Association of Namibia (EAN) in partnership with the Institute of Public Policy Research hosted a review on the National Budget 2016/17, held at Nice restaurant and attended by around 90 guests.
To enable an in depth discussion of the national budget Mr Rowland Brown, Chairperson of the EAN and Head of Research at IJG Securities, gave a critical and constructive review of the National Budget, and the Honourable Minister of Finance, Calle Schlettwein, gave the keynote address.
Brown commended the Minister of Finance on the improvements in the budget with respect to the prioritisation of government expenditures and the Minister’s efforts to date. He agreed that the budget is moving in the right direction but added that a lot of work still needs to be done.
Addressing the need to cut expenditure, the Minister stressed the difficulties in terminating ongoing projects over a short period of time. Nevertheless, the Minister added that certain projects which did not adhere to the tender process, like the housing project and the construction of a new airport, were stopped. Minister Schlettwein sounded optimistic that the economy would maintain a stable outlook over the medium term and added that the budget touched on the two pillars of pro-poor economic growth policies and a stable macroeconomic environment.
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