Three Decades of Public Expenditure Management in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Sound public expenditure management forms the bedrock of public administration. It facilitates producence, efficiency, transparency and accountability in expenditure processes at various levels of government. This serves as a long term barricade aginst debt trap. This article responds to these fundamental concerns by examining the nature, processes and challenges of public expenditure management in Zimbabwe. Reviews of expenditure management systems in Zimbabwe show general consistence with those in Anglophone Africa. Ministries of finance, working closely with spending ministries, Accounting Officers, Public Accounts Committees of Parliament, Auditor Generals and internal auditors-constitute key players in the public expenditure management process. Notwithstanding this, overall expenditure over the decades remained sticky downwards due to inflationary pressures, unbudgeted expenditures and weak expenditure management systems. Robust mesaures should be put in place to institutionalise a culture of compliance with extant expenditure management frameworks at both the macro and micro levels of government.