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Budget good on paper—Partridge

Dual-listed conglomerate Press Corporation Limited (PCL) Group chief executive officer George Partridge says there is more to implementation of the 2017/18 National Budget than it looks on paper.

Partridge said this on Saturday during the Institute of Chartered Accountants in MaIawi (Icam) annual dinner and dance in Blantyre.

Partridge: The budget is only good on paper

He said that despite having good paperwork, the budget sounds the same as in previous years, a situation he said results in nothing being done.

 “The problem is that the budgets sound the same every year and nothing gets done. If we are doing the same thing over and over again, how are we expecting different results?” he wondered.

 Partridge also called for the abolition of the Farm Input Subsidy Programme (Fisp) which he said is not working out.

“We didn’t define what food security is supposed to mean. If we had the definition of food security right, we could have the right interventions and clear goals. The problem with the interventions about this programme is that it has perpetuated poverty and dependency syndrome,” he said.

The PCL boss wondered why the country is failing to attain financial independence after 53 years of self-rule.

 In his remarks, Icam president Henry Chowawa said they are planning to start exporting talent. “It is time we need to export some of the talent.

 This will help in terms of exposure and it will also bring earnings,” he said.

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