NEW DAWN BUDGET GIVES HOPE TO BUSINESS COMMUNITY

By BUUMBA CHIMBULU The business community has high expectations from the new dawn government budget despite fighting recession and the covid 19 pandemic, a financial analyst has said. The 2022 national budget is going to be interesting as it comes at a time when businesses were promised lower taxes while the country is in the middle of debt restructuring and fighting Covid-19 effects on the economy. It is expected to come with a few tilts here and there because people were also promised lower taxes, according to Mutisunge Zulu, a financial analyst.   Finance Minister, Situmbeko Musokotwane, is expected to present the 2022 national budget this month with the country’s US$12.7 billion external debt in mind. “People’s expectations are very high, the budget is being presented in at an interesting time. I expect that the 2022 budget will come with a few twerks here and there because people were also promised lower taxes. He indicated that it would be critical to see how Government and the mining industry would reach a win-win agreement on taxation as they have been discussing through budget submissions. In Zambia, Mr Zulu said, one could not talk about taxation without discussing it with the mines because it was one of the avenues that Government used to raise funding. That, he emphasised, remained critical. Meanwhile, Mr Zulu encouraged Government to increase funding to the health sector to provide quality services, especially during the current Covid-19 pandemic.