Budget cuts: Too little too late?
JEMIMA BEUKES
Academic Omu Kakujaha-Matundu has suggested that the government should have pursued a fiscal consolidation path as far back as 2008, as the economy showed signs of strain in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.
This follows a circular from the Namibian Police announcing that it had suspended recruitment for the next three years because of budget cuts.
The force has been confronted with a number of budget cuts since the beginning of the year.
The 2016/17 budget for the Safety and Security Ministry was cut to N$5.1 billion, down from N$14.3 billion in the 2015/16 financial year.
Inspector-General Sebastian Ndeitunga was quoted as saying last year that the police had been told not to buy a single vehicle for the next three years.
Earlier this month, the police issued a memo stating that all those whose student fees were being paid by the force would have to start paying for themselves in the 2017/18 financial year.
The police are not the only government agency that must bear the brunt of this tightening of the public purse. In September last year the finance ministry issued a directive to all government ministries to freeze the awarding of new tenders and feasibility studies or surveys.
According to Kakujaha-Matundu Namibia’s financial woes will undoubtedly increase unemployment, which will compromise President Hage Geingob’s war on poverty.
“If the government is going to struggle like this it must downsize and instead of providing jobs, jobs in the public sector will disappear,” he argues.
He added that it was unlikely that this state of affairs would completely destroy the president’s track record, but it might be dented and the nation might lose a bit of confidence in Geingob.
“I think he was aware of how the economy was doing and yet he still went ahead and promised too much. Since 2008 the economy has showed signs of strain,” the economist said.
Academic Omu Kakujaha-Matundu has suggested that the government should have pursued a fiscal consolidation path as far back as 2008, as the economy showed signs of strain in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.
This follows a circular from the Namibian Police announcing that it had suspended recruitment for the next three years because of budget cuts.
The force has been confronted with a number of budget cuts since the beginning of the year.
The 2016/17 budget for the Safety and Security Ministry was cut to N$5.1 billion, down from N$14.3 billion in the 2015/16 financial year.
Inspector-General Sebastian Ndeitunga was quoted as saying last year that the police had been told not to buy a single vehicle for the next three years.
Earlier this month, the police issued a memo stating that all those whose student fees were being paid by the force would have to start paying for themselves in the 2017/18 financial year.
The police are not the only government agency that must bear the brunt of this tightening of the public purse. In September last year the finance ministry issued a directive to all government ministries to freeze the awarding of new tenders and feasibility studies or surveys.
According to Kakujaha-Matundu Namibia’s financial woes will undoubtedly increase unemployment, which will compromise President Hage Geingob’s war on poverty.
“If the government is going to struggle like this it must downsize and instead of providing jobs, jobs in the public sector will disappear,” he argues.
He added that it was unlikely that this state of affairs would completely destroy the president’s track record, but it might be dented and the nation might lose a bit of confidence in Geingob.
“I think he was aware of how the economy was doing and yet he still went ahead and promised too much. Since 2008 the economy has showed signs of strain,” the economist said.
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