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Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move that the
House do now resolve into Committee of
Supply on the Estimates of Revenue and
Expenditure for the year 1st January, 2003 to
31st December, 2003, presented to the National
Assembly in January, 2003.
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Mr Speaker, Sir, I am the bearer of a message from His Excellency, the President
recommending favourable consideration of the motion I now lay on the Table.
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Mr Speaker, Sir, my Government is deeply indebted to the Zambian people who,
even in the midst of the hardships caused by last season’s drought, have taken hold of
opportunities created by the liberalisation of the economic and political life of our nation. By
doing so, they have begun to build a sound foundation for broad based economic growth -
the only viable basis for sustained poverty reduction. Their efforts in this regard are
bearing fruit, as evidenced by the revival of economic life in places like Livingstone and the
diversification of our economy and its export base.
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Mr Speaker, Sir, I also wish to acknowledge the valued contributions made by
the public to this year’s budgeting process. Obviously, not all contributions can be
accommodated in one budget. However, my Government greatly values the principle of
inclusion, and we will endeavour to ensure that our policies and programmes are
developed and implemented in partnership with all stakeholders. Last year’s budget
theme, which focused on food security, production and employment, remains relevant
and so this year’s budget theme - in line with the consistent policy emphasis of the New Deal
Government - is again “Food Security through Production and Job Creation”.
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Sir, my address this afternoon consists of six parts. In Part One, I give an overview of
the performance of the global economy during the past year. In Part Two, I discuss
developments in the Zambian economy during the same period and this is followed, in Part
Three, by an outline of Government’s macroeconomic and development policies for
2003. In Parts Four and Five, I present details of expenditure and the supporting revenue for
the 2003 budget, respectively. Finally, in Part Six, I give my concluding remarks.
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- 321Kb ~ 2 min (16 pages)
