Royal Norwegian Embassy in Lusaka
PRESS RELEASE - 13 December 2011
Norway contributes 79 Billion Kwacha to Zambia in budget support for poverty reduction
Norway contributes about 79 Billion Kwacha in direct support to Zambia’s budget this year. The aim is to enhance the Government’s efforts to provide effective public service delivery, employment creation and poverty reduction, particularly in rural areas.
“Norway welcomes the Government’s strong stance on anti-corruption, expansion of social services and poverty reduction, and appreciates the increased allocation in the 2012 budget to strengthen these efforts”, says Norway’s ambassador to Zambia, Mr Arve Ofstad.
“Zambia has also made progress mobilising its own resources for national development, including improvements in its tax revenue collection. Norway looks forward to continue supporting these efforts. Over time, it is our aim to focus more on capacity building and policy dialogue to ensure that Zambia benefits from efficient national institutions” according to the ambassador.
Norway’s budget support to Zambia is set out in a bilateral agreement between the two governments. This agreement was signed on 2 December 2011. Cooperation on budget support to Zambia is also detailed in a Memorandum of Understanding between a larger group of donors and Zambia’s Minister of Finance, H.E. Alexander Chikwanda, signed on 17 November 2011.
Budget support aims to enable the Zambian Government to better prioritise financial resources for development purposes and to combat poverty, and for managing these resources through its own institutions. Norway together with all budget support donors encourages efficient scrutiny by Parliament and the Office of the Auditor General as well as a strong civil society voice to provide democratic checks and balances on all Government spending.
To this end, Norway supports several key public financial management programmes and institutions, such as the Office of the Auditor General, the Zambia Revenue Authority, the Bank of Zambia, and the Financial Intelligence Centre, as well several Zambian and international civil society organisations.