Expectations from the 2025 National Budget
By Michelo Maunga As we prepare for the presentation of the 2025 National Budget, expectations amongst all sectors of Zambian society are high. This will be the penultimate budget of President Hichilema’s first term in office. Thus it will be crucial in consolidating what the present regime has been endeavoring to achieve since 2021. A process that began in April and which will culminate in Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane’s address to Parliament in September, the past few months have characterized by countless consultative meetings and submissions to the Ministry of Finance and National Planning. As we near its end, I speak for much of our society when I say, we await with bated breaths for the contents of that famous Copper briefcase. The National Budget speaks to the priorities of Government in a given calendar year. Generally, it is themed on a particular policy objective. In the 2022 National Budget, for instance, Government placed its focus on the Mining Sector and Human Capital. Th