Youths Take Lead In Pre-Budget Consultations

Youths across the country have taken a leading role in providing solutions that will help government to come up with fairly shared budgets for the 2023-2024 fiscal year and beyond.

Almost in all the meetings held across the county the minister of Finance, Sosten Gwengwe conducted, the participation of the youth leaders have been phenomenal.

Chairperson for an umbrella body representing all the youth arm organisations in the city of Mzuzu, Francis Chirambo said priorities of the budget should largely incorporate views of the youth who constitute the largest population of the country.

“It is very sad that for a long time financial lending institutions more particularly banks are still not ready to provide loans that can improve the livelihoods of the country’s larger population, the budget should clearly address such issues,” Chirambo stated.

In his remarks contributing to the pre-budget consultation in Mzuzu another youthful entrepreneur managing AIA Consultancy, Killy Msukwa expressed the need for this year’s budget to provide recommendations that will ease fiscal monetary policies governing financial lending institutions to remove colligative measures impinging youths seeking bank loans.

“We need a budget that will ease rules guiding financial institutions to give loans without bias towards the elderly, youths are equally prepared to compete on the market given what it takes to boost their financial capacity,” Msukwa said.

*Remove punitive financial security measures* – Msukwa

Msukwa cited examples of neighbouring countries such as Zambia and Tanzania where banks have empowered the youths with thresholds that have enabled them to own a fleet of road and water vessels hence managing huge fuel contracts.

In an interview after the meeting, finance minister Sosten Gwengwe said all the suggestions will be compiled and be considered in consolidation of the budget formulations coming ahead.

“Indeed Pre-National Budget consultations attracted huge public interests including the youth, our major focus is getting the national priorities right, if we bang our heads together and have inclusive implementation strategies we can succeed,” Gwengwe said.

Sttakeholders who were party to the pre-budget consultation meeting in Mzuzu include; the Church and Society an organization under CCAP Synod of Livingstonia, Mzuzu University, Copyright Society of Malawi, Nyika Institute and Civil Society Networks.