Blantyre, April 9: Government says has set aside K14.2 billion in the 2013-2014 fiscal year’s Budget which will be directed towards the tripartite elections scheduled for May 2014.

Speaking to Malawi News Agency (Mana) in Blantyre on Monday, April 8 after presiding over the pre-budget consultation meeting for the 2013-2014 fiscal year, Minister of Finance Ken Lipenga said a vast part of the financial resources will be directed towards the elections.

“I have to say here that in the 2013-2014 Budget, a huge component will be directed towards the elections as you know that the  country will be holding three elections at once and as such; there is need to ensure that there are enough resources for the exercise,” said Lipenga.

On the pre-budget meeting, Lipenga said it has always been government’s wish to consult before coming up with a new budget.

Lipenga said government has noted that the exercise has been of paramount significance as some of the issues which people bring are useful to government’s business.

“We engage the private sector to solicit views on what they think government should include or exclude from the budget.

“The forum provides opportunity for citizens to scrutinize government policies and bring in some solutions.

“During forums like this one, we just get views through round-table discussions with government authorities to see if what can be said could bring some changes to the government business,” said Lipenga.