Zimbabwe
Technical Assistance Report-Government Finance Statistics
Author: International Monetary Fund. Statistics Dept.
Publication Date:
20 Jul 2020
eISBN:
9781513550602
Language:
English
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; government; outturn data; government balance sheet; ministry; consideration government subsidy; authorities in the MoFED; government pension liability; Government finance statistics; Pensions; Financial statements; Pension spending; Public sector; accountant General office MoFED; government transaction; government of Zimbabwe; government expense; government entity
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As part of a five-year project of the Enhanced Data Dissemination Initiative (EDDI) 2 Government Finance Statistics (GFS) Module on improving GFS and public-sector debt statistics in selected African countries, a mission was conducted in Harare, Zimbabwe during April 15–26, 2019. This mission was a follow up on a 2018 GFS technical assistance (TA) mission under the EDDI 2. The mission’s objective was to review progress made and assisting with outstanding statistical issues that are important for sound policymaking in Zimbabwe. Some of the key outstanding issues raised by the IMF African Department prior to the mission were, the classification of government subsidies to state owned enterprises (SOEs); the identification of extrabudgetary units (EBUs) and classification of their operations; and the correct classification of other government transactions in line with a Government Finance Statistics Manual (GFSM) 2014 framework.

Abstract

As part of a five-year project of the Enhanced Data Dissemination Initiative (EDDI) 2 Government Finance Statistics (GFS) Module on improving GFS and public-sector debt statistics in selected African countries, a mission was conducted in Harare, Zimbabwe during April 15–26, 2019. This mission was a follow up on a 2018 GFS technical assistance (TA) mission under the EDDI 2. The mission’s objective was to review progress made and assisting with outstanding statistical issues that are important for sound policymaking in Zimbabwe. Some of the key outstanding issues raised by the IMF African Department prior to the mission were, the classification of government subsidies to state owned enterprises (SOEs); the identification of extrabudgetary units (EBUs) and classification of their operations; and the correct classification of other government transactions in line with a Government Finance Statistics Manual (GFSM) 2014 framework.

Summary of Mission Outcomes and Priority Recommendations

1. As part of a five-year project of the Enhanced Data Dissemination Initiative (EDDI) 2 Government Finance Statistics (GFS) Module on improving GFS and public-sector debt statistics in selected African countries, a mission was conducted in Harare, Zimbabwe during April 15–26, 2019. This mission was a follow up on a 2018 GFS technical assistance (TA) mission under the EDDI 2. The mission’s objective was to review progress made and assisting with outstanding statistical issues that are important for sound policymaking in Zimbabwe. Some of the key outstanding issues raised by the IMF African Department prior to the mission were, the classification of government subsidies to state owned enterprises (SOEs); the identification of extrabudgetary units (EBUs) and classification of their operations; and the correct classification of other government transactions in line with a Government Finance Statistics Manual (GFSM) 2014 framework.

2. The mission assisted to further improve the quality and comprehensiveness of GFS. In response to the key issues that had been identified, the mission worked to expand the coverage of GFS for EBUs and public corporations. Specifically, the mission assisted in identifying all EBUs and state-owned enterprises across ministries (Appendix II. A preliminary list of these entities was transmitted by the Accountant General (AG) to all ministries in late April through an official government circular (Appendix V) requesting financial statements and balance sheets for these entities with failure to do so resulting in a halt of funding for any non-reporting entities. The mission also assisted in the reclassification of budgetary central government (BCG) transactions into a GFSM 2014 framework taking into consideration government subsidies and some financing operations which were being reported off-balance sheet. The mission also assisted in the correct classification of transactions for the government managed (nonautonomous) public sector pension fund.

3. Given current reform efforts in Zimbabwe, having accurate, comprehensive and timely statistics for all subsectors of the general government is imperative for achieving well-informed and successful policy outcomes. In moving towards more comprehensive coverage for GFS using a standardized and centrally monitored template, the government would be significantly better placed to implement and monitor policy changes across the entire general government sector. At the moment, coverage is limited to BCG which only paints a narrow pictures of the financial activities of all government entities.

4. Progress has been made in improving the quality of GFS, but it remains slow. The mission found that that the authorities are making some progress towards higher quality and more comprehensive GFS at the BCG level, however, sufficient information for meaningful monitoring and surveillance of the entire general government in Zimbabwe should be considered a long-term goal with several remaining challenges including adherence to the Zimbabwe Public Finance Management Act, 2009 (PFMA) and a greater buy-in from senior officials.

5. In order to improve government finance statistics for policy and surveillance purposes, the mission recommends the following actions:

  • The authorities may need to enhance co-ordination and co-operation across ministries in terms of sharing of financial information for all public sector entities as defined in the PFMA. At present, co-operation with the AG’s office in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED) from several ministries is extremely limited leading to a lack of financial accountability for local authorities, extrabudgetary funds, and state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

  • The MoFED would be required to formulate, and enforce, clear punishment mechanisms for lack of compliance with the laws of Zimbabwe which govern GFS, mainly the PFMA and the Public Debt Management Act (2015) (PDMA). At present, there is a severe, and persistent, lack of compliance with reporting requirements laid out in the PFMA and PDMA. Part of this persistent is rooted in the lack of credible enforcement mechanisms which allows public entities to continually operate with very little accountability.

  • The AG’s office may need to expand the compilation of financial statistics to include all extrabudgetary funds, local authorities, and social security funds using a standardized GFSM 2014 format. In the short term, this can be done by converting existing data into a GFSM 2014 presentation. In the medium term, all entities should report using a GFSM 2014 compatible template or the new chart of accounts.

  • More detailed statistics would need to be compiled to reflect all subsidies provided by government to public corporations. At present, budgetary central government outturn data broadly classifies these as capital transfers which does not allow for a clear understanding of the extent to which subsidies are being provided and to whom they are being provided.

  • Authorities across all ministries and other public entities need to formulate, and publish, an updated list of all public sector entities including EBUs, local authorities, and SOEs. The mission worked to prepare a preliminary list containing 210 extrabudgetary funds, 92 local authorities, and 105 SOEs. These are currently being validated across departments and should be published by all relevant government agencies.

Table 1.

Zimbabwe Priority Recommendations

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Legal Framework Governing GFS in Zimbabwe

6. The legal context under which current reporting practices for the general government take place (i.e. the PFMA) remains largely not complied with. This problem was flagged during the previous GFS mission and leads to a lack of transparency, accountability and sound management of public sector finances as explicitly mandated as the objective of the Act.

7. As noted in the 2018 GFS TA report, the AG’s office should have the ability to set a standardized format for financial reporting across all subsectors of the general government. This data should be reported in a timely manner to the MoFED. Ministries should also report any financial difficulties as noted in Part V, Section 49 (2) of the PFMA.

8. The AG’s office currently receives sufficient information to produce a consolidated GFS financial statement for the budgetary central government only. There are several types of non-standardized reporting forms used by subsectors of the general government, including local governments and EBUs which are not shared with the MoFED. This non-standardized reporting makes it extremely difficult to consolidate financial information for the general government.

9. The AG’s office continues to receive very limited and unstandardized financial information for some other general government subsectors. This information comes only in the form of annual reports which come with varying degrees of useful statistical information. There are also several types of non-standardized reporting forms used by public corporations (consistent with standards of the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) and/or of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS)). This continues to make it impossible for the MoFED to accurately monitor the general government.

Recommended Action:

  • The authorities are encouraged to review compliance with PFMA across all Ministries and work to enforce the requirements of the Act. Compliance with the PFMA is very low and would benefit from higher degrees of cooperation between relevant stakeholders and stronger enforcement mechanisms.

General Government Finance Statistics

10. The government of Zimbabwe has fairly accurate records of institutional units, although work is needed on a centralized and consistent list of all units, especially for EBUs. A breakdown of institutional units for each subsector of the general government is provided in Appendix I-IV.

11. The most significant challenge in terms of institutional coverage for the general government is the multiplicity of EBUs. Given the dispersed management of EBUs across ministries, stronger coordinated effort is critical to compile a complete and accurate list. The mission prioritized this list throughout the mission and worked with the authorities to improve comprehensiveness.

12. The mission assisted in drafting a circular (Appendix V) which highlights the requirements set out in the PFMA and attached the list of 210 EBUs (and 105 SOEs1) compiled during the mission. This circular has been sent to all ministries and clearly notes that a lack of reporting of financial information will lead to funds being denied to public sector entities who fail to comply. The AG’s office has also agreed to hire a team with a specific mandate of compiling financial information for all of these entities in a standardized format in order to gain a better understanding of the financial position of the general government.

13. As was the case in the 2018 GFS TA report, Zimbabwe has only reported GFS for the BCG and no data for any other subsector of the general government was reported to the Statistics Department of the IMF since 2009. The mission worked with the authorities to compile a practical mapping of BCG outturn data (which is produced by the authorities on monthly, quarterly and annual basis) into a GFSM 2014 presentation. The authorities have committed to send this data to the IMF upon internal review for publication in the 2019 Government Finance Statistics Yearbook (GFSY).

A. GFS for Budgetary Central Government in Zimbabwe

14. The budgetary central government in Zimbabwe consists of around forty-five institutional units. This figure is consistent with the findings from a 2018 GFS mission.

15. There also exists six non-autonomous social insurance schemes for public sector employees. These nonautonomous schemes include: the new Public Sector Pension Fund (PSPF), the Grain Marketing Board Pension Fund (GMBPF), Local Authority Pension Fund (LAPF), National Railways of Zimbabwe Pension Fund (NRZPF), Unified Councils Pension Fund (UCPF), and Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authorities Pension Fund (ZESAPF) which are discussed further in Box 1.

16. The authorities continue to produce monthly/quarterly/annual outturn bulletins based on a modified GFSM 1986 presentation. The mission worked with the authorities to create GFSM 2014 bridge tables using outturn data for the years 2015–2017. The results of this conversion exercise, compared with MoFED outturn, and IMF WEO, data, can be seen below in Figures 1 – 5. Figure 1 shows net lending/net borrowing (NLB) for the years 2015 – 2017 from IMF WEO, Authorities outturn data and the GFSM2014 conversion completed during the mission.

Figure 1.
Figure 1.

Net Lending/Net Borrowing of the Budgetary Central Government2 in Zimbabwe

Citation: IMF Staff Country Reports 2020, 219; 10.5089/9781513550602.002.A001

IMF WEO (April 2019), MoFED, authors calculations

17. To better understand the differences in these presentations, some of the key differences in classification between Zimbabwe outturn and GFSM 2014 presentation are highlighted below:

  • Capital transfers in Zimbabwe outturn data were reclassified as subsidies. Because the majority of these transfers are made on the basis of levels of production activities or the quantities or values of the goods or services produced, sold, exported, or imported, these are more accurately classified as subsidies. Going forward, the government should work to provide a better breakdown of the category and move to classify subsidies consistent with the GFSM 2014 guidelines.

  • The activities of government nonautonomous pension funds were reclassified to accommodate the cash accounting system currently being used in Zimbabwe. Under this classification, revenues which are explicitly collected (or deducted) for pension schemes (i.e. employee pension contributions), are classified as other social contributions in government revenue, and actual social contributions in government expense. Pension benefit payments under these schemes are recorded as employment related social benefits. Note that this cash-based system is not optimal as no liabilities are realized in the form of pension obligations. This means that monitoring and evaluating the sustainability of these schemes is not possible under a cash-based system of accounting. Going forward the government should move to a modified cash-based system that begins to record these obligations below the line.

  • Some below the line financing and recapitalization operations which were being recorded off the government balance sheet, were brought onto the government balance sheet. In the existing outturn data, transactions for the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) through the Zimbabwe Asset Management Corporation (ZAMCO); and some transfers to public corporations (SOEs) were being recorded as ‘contingent liabilities’. Given that these financial commitments have been assumed by government, they should be classified on the balance sheet of the BCG. Due to this reclassification by the mission team, government liabilities increased from the outturn statistics and the government deficit increased to account for transfers to public corporations.

18. Total budgetary central government expense grew by around forty-three percent over the 2015–17 period. These increases were attributable to significant growth in subsidies, interest payments and the use of goods and services. Figure 2 shows the composition of government expense from the GFSM2014 conversion for all the 2015–17 period.

Figure 2.
Figure 2.

Budgetary Central Government Expense

Citation: IMF Staff Country Reports 2020, 219; 10.5089/9781513550602.002.A001

Source: MoFED, author’s calculations

19. Budgetary central government revenue decreased moderately over the 2015–2017 period by around two percent. Comparing this with the increased expenses in Figure 2, the relatively stagnant revenue help to explain the growing net borrowing (deficit) from Figure 1, and increased incurrence of liabilities in Figure 5. Figure 3 shows the composition of government revenue from the GFSM 2014 conversion for the 2015- 2017 period.

Figure 3.
Figure 3.

Budgetary Central Government Revenue

Citation: IMF Staff Country Reports 2020, 219; 10.5089/9781513550602.002.A001

Source: MoFED and author’s calculations
Figure 4.
Figure 4.

Budgetary Central Government Transactions in Financial Assets

Citation: IMF Staff Country Reports 2020, 219; 10.5089/9781513550602.002.A001

Source: MoFED and authors calculations
Figure 5.
Figure 5.

Budgetary Central Government Transactions in Liabilities

Citation: IMF Staff Country Reports 2020, 219; 10.5089/9781513550602.002.A001

Source: MoFED and authors calculations

20. Net transactions in nonfinancial assets increased by around one-hundred and eighty five percent over the 2015–17 period. Investment in fixed assets increased from around 45 Million USD to 128 Million USD between 2015–2017.

21. Transactions in financial assets have almost doubled over the 2015–17 period (around 73 percent increase). These increases are attributable to a significant increase in BCG loans to public sector entities, including ZAMCO.

22. ZAMCO recapitalization made up a significant part of the increase in BCG net acquisition of financial assets. To understand why the ZAMCO recapitalization constitutes a financial asset for the government, the key criteria is whether they obtain a financial claim on an entity to whom they provide resources. In the ZAMCO case, government received a financial claim on ZAMCO equal to the value of the resources that were provided (no change in net worth – see Box 6.3 of GFSM 2014). For the years 2015 – 2017, these financial obligations increased by 246 Million USD, 219 Million USD, and 133 Million USD, respectively.

23. Transactions in liabilities increased by around two-hundred and eighty percent over the 2015–17 period. These increases came from the issuance of domestic securities (157 percent increase) and loan contracts (238 percent increase). Figure 5 below shows a breakdown of these transactions in liabilities.

24. These increases were largely due to RBZ and SOE recapitalization along with the clearance of arrears. From the 2019 Public Sector Debt Statistics TA Report, the increase in loan liabilities were largely due to an overdraft with the RBZ and increase in security issuances were largely due to the clearance of arrears and recapitalization of SOEs.3

Detailed statistics for the non-autonomous social insurance scheme for public sector employees are unavailable. Employee contributions to, and social benefits paid out by, government to nonautonomous funds are available in the outturn data (highlighted in 2018 IMF GFS TA Report) but there is no detailed information on financial assets earmarked for pension recipients and/or liabilities to pension recipients (see Box 1). Furthermore, there is no breakdown of pension scheme financial positions by each scheme within the control of the general government (PSPF, GMBPF, LAPF, NRZPF, UCPF, and ZESAPF) or clear indication of which schemes are covered in existing outturn data. Given the unique treatment of nonautonomous unfunded pension schemes in GFSM 2014, a simple exposition is provided below in Box 1.

The Treatment of Nonautonomous Public Sector Pension Schemes in GFSM 2014

In the GFSM 2014 framework, there are three types of employment-related pension schemes: (see GFSM2014 A.2.42-A2.43)

  • A government managed unfunded pension scheme, (nonautonomous pension fund)

  • A separate institutional unit that operates a pension scheme (autonomous pension fund)

  • A scheme managed by an insurance enterprise on behalf of the employer (autonomous pension fund).

In the case of nonautonomous schemes, ‘these schemes are usually unfunded schemes as they are organized by the employer (central government) without assigning specific accounts or otherwise creating special reserves for the payment of benefits. Instead, the benefits are payable from the employer’s general resources’. The government of Zimbabwe currently runs six unfunded pension schemes (PSPF, GMBPF, LAPF, NRZPF, UCPF, and ZESAPF), which are managed by the MoFED and other relevant Ministries. In order to understand how these unfunded schemes are treated in the GFSM 2014 framework, we can show a simple example using the relationship between employers (central government) and central government employees using a cash-based system. Note that this treatment is suboptimal given that no liabilities or financial claims are identified in order to assess the sustainability and/or solvency of these schemes.

For simplicity, assume that:

  • - Central government employee wages and salaries are 100

  • - The nonautonomous (government run) pension scheme requires employee contributions of 10%

This scenario is depicted for the government (employer) and public sector employee below.

In an ideal GFSM 2014 migration, government would move towards a ‘modified cash’ basis where they would incur expenses of 90 in wages and salaries (cash) and 10 in pension obligations (IPSGS), while employees would receive 90 in wages and salaries (cash) and 10 in pension claims on government (IPSGS). Any further transaction relating to the scheme would either reduce government pension liabilities (i.e. benefits are paid out) or increase their pension liabilities (new obligations are created).

B. GFS for Extrabudgetary Central Government in Zimbabwe

25. The EBUs within the central government in Zimbabwe consists of around two-hundred institutional units. This figure is higher than the one-hundred and forty-five reported in a 2018 GFS mission. Authorities are currently validating the new list which should be reviewed in the next GFS mission. A list of these EBUs is available in Appendix II.

26. EBUs fall under the authority of around twenty-one Ministries who are responsible for collecting financial statistics. The dispersion of EBUs across Ministries means that a high degree of cross ministry communication and cooperation with PFMA is important for compiling accurate statistics. A breakdown of these EBUs by ministry is shown in Table 2 below.

Table 2.

Zimbabwe Extrabudgetary Units by Ministry*

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Numbers are preliminary

27. At present, consolidated financial statements for EBU funds are not available within the MoFED. The mission assisted in the identification all EBUs in Zimbabwe. While financial statements and balance sheets were available for some of these, there was no centralized recording and consolidation of these statistics.

28. Authorities in the MoFED have transmitted a circular (Appendix V) to all ministries on April 25, 2019 requesting financial statistics for all EBUs across all ministries. This circular explicitly noted that nonreporting ministries would face a stoppage of funding from the AG’s office. A June deadline was set for responses with the intention that the AGs office will provide a dedicated team to compile preliminary statistics (GFSM 2014 conversions) over the next twelve months.

C. GFS for Local Government in Zimbabwe

29. The local government in Zimbabwe consists of ninety-two local authorities. These are five local boards, twelve town councils, eight municipalities, sixty rural district councils, and seven city councils (32 urban and 60 rural). A list of these local authorities is available in Appendix III.

30. Local governments in Zimbabwe report financial information to the Ministry of Local Government (MoLG) but not the MoFED. Some financial statistics for local authorities were available within the MoLG, however, there was a significant lack of data sharing/communication between the MoLG and MoFED making it difficult to compile GFS data using a GFSM 2014 presentation.

D. GFS for Social Security Funds in Zimbabwe

31. There are seven pension schemes, one of which is a social security fund, in the general government of Zimbabwe. There are seven pension schemes listed in Appendix IV, however National Social Security Authority (NSSA) is the only scheme that meets the definition of a social security fund in the GFSM 2014 framework.

32. Financial statistics do exist for the social security fund in Zimbabwe but are not integrated with other general government statistics. The National Social Security Authority (NSSA)), which covers the general Zimbabwe population, does produce and publish financial statements but are compiled using an IFRS presentation.4 It would be useful for the authorities to begin classifying NSSA financial statements in a GFSM 2014 presentation to allow or better integration of this data with other parts of the general government.

Recommended Actions:

  • The mission recommends that the authorities compile and publish a complete and accurate list of all general government units, including, all local government units and EBUs. The government’s most significant challenge in terms of institutional coverage remains an accurate and comprehensive recording of EBUs across all ministries in Zimbabwe.

  • The mission recommends that the authorities expand coverage of GFS to include local authorities, EBUs, and the social security fund. In order to achieve this goal greater cooperation and communication across ministries is essential and should ensure compliance with the PFMA and the transmission of financial statistics in a unified framework to the AG’s office in the MoFED. In the short term, this will also require the creation of bridge tables that allow for different presentations of financial statements to be converted into a GFSM 2014 framework. The mission trained the authorities on how to complete this exercise.

  • In the migration to the GFSM 2014 framework for the general government, authorities should ensure clear recording of subsidies to all SOEs and classify these according to the GFSM 2014 guidelines. In BCG outturn data, subsidies are broadly classified as capital transfers which makes it difficult to get an accurate figure for the size of these subsidies.

  • In the migration to the GFSM 2014 framework for the general government, authorities should ensure clear recording of pension obligations for the six nonautonomous pension schemes. In the BCG outturn data, pension contributions are currently being recorded with little transparency and on a cash basis that does not allow for monitoring of the performance, sustainability and solvency of these schemes. The authorities should have clear statistics relating to each of these schemes and move to a modified cash basis of reporting for these schemes.

Detailed Technical Assessment and Recommendations

33. Bringing together the findings in this report, the mission recommends the following achievable actions:

  • The authorities may need to enhance co-ordination and co-operation across ministries when it comes to sharing of financial information for all public sector entities as defined in the PFMA. At present, co-operation with the AG’s office in the MoFED from several ministries is extremely limited leading to a lack of financial accountability for local authorities, EBUs, and SOEs.

  • The MoFED would be required to formulate, and enforce, clear punishment mechanisms for lack of compliance with the laws of Zimbabwe which govern GFS, mainly the PFMA and the PDMA. At present, there is a severe, and persistent, lack of compliance with reporting requirements laid out in the PFMA and PDMA. Part of this problem is rooted in weak enforcement mechanisms which allow public entities to continually operate with very little accountability.

  • The AG’s office may need to expand their compilation of financial statistics to include all extrabudgetary funds, local authorities, and SOEs using a standardized GFSM 2014 format. In the short term, this can be done by converting existing data into a GFSM 2014 presentation. In the medium term, all entities should report using a GFSM 2014 compatible template or the new chart of accounts.

  • More detailed statistics would need to be compiled to reflect all subsidies provided by government to public corporations. At present, budgetary central government outturn data broadly classifies these as capital transfers which does not allow for a clear understanding of the extent to which subsidies are being provided and to whom they are being provided.

  • Authorities across all ministries and public entities need to formulate, and publish, an updated list of all public sector entities including EBUs, local authorities, and SOEs. The mission worked to prepare a preliminary list containing 210 EBUs, 92 local authorities, and 105 SOEs. These are currently being validated across departments and should be published by all relevant government agencies.

34. All of these recommendations will require greater communication and co-operation between MoFED, the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing (MoLG) and other relevant ministries, along with the building and implementation of a standardized reporting template which fits into the new Chart of Accounts (COA) framework. The benefits of implementing these recommendations would include a greatly improved ability to assess the health, solvency, and potential risks of the public sector through balance sheet exposure.

Table 3.

Zimbabwe Government Finance Statistics Improvement Work Program

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A. Officials Met During the Mission

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Appendix I. Budgetary Central Government Institutional Units

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Appendix II. Extrabudgetary Central Government Institutional Units

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Appendix III. Local Government Institutional Units

Table C.1:

Local Authorities who submitted 2016 Debt and Financial Statistics to the MoLG

(Urban/Rural)

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Appendix IV. Social Insurance Schemes in Zimbabwe

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Appendix V. Ministry of Finance and Economic Development Circular on Reporting of Extrabudgetary Fund and State-Owned Enterprise Financial Statistics

Telegrams: “MINFIN”, Harare

Telex: 22141ZW

Telephone: 722101/794571

Facsimile: 792750

Private Bag 7705, Causeway

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe

MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

New Government Composite Building

Samora Machel Avenue

Harare

Zimbabwe

25 April 2019 Ref:

Secretary to the Judicial Service Commission

Attention: Mr M. Shadaya

Secretary for Energy and Power Development

Attention: Mr N. Muguwu

Secretary for Health and Child Care

Attention: Ms H. Machamire

Secretary for Higher Education, Science and Technology Development

Attention: Mr E. Ngwarati

Secretary for Home Affairs

Attention: Mr E. Chisoko

Secretary for Industry, Commerce and Enterprise Development

Attention: Mr L. Muzondo

Secretary for Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs

Attention: Mr B.E. Mangosho

Secretary for Labor and Social Welfare

Attention: Mr E. Goronga

Secretary for Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement

Attention: Mr P. Mudzamiri

Secretary for Local Government, Public Works and National Housing

Attention: Mr T. Chaparadza

Secretary for Mines and Mining Development

Attention: Mr M. Makina

Secretary for Primary and Secondary Education

Attention: Mr B. Wenjere

Secretary for Tourism and Hospitality Industry

Attention: Mrs P. Zenda

Secretary for Transport and Infrastructural Development

Attention: Mrs T. Zhakata

Secretary for Women and Youth Affairs

Attention: Mr L. Kunaka

RE: SUBMISSION OF FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR EXTRABUDGETARY UNITS AND PARASTATALS

Treasury is in the process of compiling financial information on extra budgetary funds and state-owned enterprises (SOEs). This information is required for consolidation in order to come up with accurate financial position of the entire Government.

This exercise is being conducted, in part, to ensure compliance with the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA). Specifically, in Part IV of the PFMA, section 32 it states that: “(1) Every director of finance shall prepare or cause to be prepared the annual [quarterly/monthly] financial statements of the Ministry concerned and shall submit such statements to the Accounting officer of that Ministry and to the Accountant General within thirty days of the year concerned.” Accordingly, all ministries should be submitting relevant financial statements and balance sheets, including total gross debt for the Debt Management Office, for all units under their responsibility to the Accountant General (AG) within thirty days of the end of each reporting period.

This information should cover all public entities which includes budgetary, extra budgetary, and social security funds, along with all local authorities across all ministries. Subsection (2) of Section 36 in PFMA also notes that: “The Accountant General may determine: a) the format of the statement of revenue and expenditure and the annual report; and b) any other details that the financial statement may contain.”

In cases where public entities are not reporting financial information on a regular basis as outline in the PFMA, the Ministry of Finance has the authority to stop funds. This means that any public entity which is deemed to be noncompliant with the reporting requirements outlined in the PFMA will receive no funding approval from the Ministry of Finance until they become fully compliant. All Financial statements should be submitted as they are being compiled but will be expected to be submitted in the new GFSM 2014 format once ministry training has been completed.

In order to facilitate this exercise, the Accountant General’s office has compiled an updated tentative list of these units by Ministry (see attachment) and kindly ask you to provide information on:

  • whether this list is correct for your ministry (are there any missing or any which no longer exists?);

  • the financial information available for these units, including financial statement and balance sheet? If yes, please indicate which years and on what reporting basis (monthly/quarterly/ annual); and

  • Is this financial information being sent to relevant officers in the AG’s office?

Please return the attached file along with any other relevant information for your ministry by 30 April.

Pursuant to the above, kindly contact Mr G. Marufu whose contact is 0775795246 or 0719795246 who will facilitate the roll out of the GFSM 2014 to your extra budgetary units and SOEs.

D.Muchemwa

Accountant General

For: Secretary for Finance and Economic Development

Cc: Principal Director National budgets

: Deputy Accountant General –Mr.E. Zvandasara

: Deputy Accountant General- Mrs.M. Mukondomi

: Deputy Accountant General –Mr. S. Kanyoza

: Deputy Accountant General- Ms Maveneka

1

This list can be found in the 2019 Public Sector Debt Statistics TA Report and the SOEs meet the market criterion to be considered public corporations.

2

For MoFED and author calculations, these represent budgetary central government. For WEO estimates, these are classified under general government (with metadata).

3

See: Zimbabwe Report on Public Sector Debt Statistics Technical Assistance Mission (June 2019).

Same Series

Other IMF Content

Other Publishers

Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Zimbabwe: Technical Assistance Report-Government Finance Statistics
Author: International Monetary Fund. Statistics Dept.
Volume/Issue:
Volume 2020: Issue 219
Publisher:
International Monetary Fund
ISBN:
9781513550602
ISSN:
1934-7685
Pages:
31
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5089/9781513550602.002

Net Lending/Net Borrowing of the Budgetary Central Government2 in Zimbabwe

Budgetary Central Government Expense

Budgetary Central Government Revenue

Budgetary Central Government Transactions in Financial Assets

Budgetary Central Government Transactions in Liabilities