This Issue covers articles based on our Analysis of the 2020 National Budget Speech and other research outputs published and disseminated recently. It also brings to you some news on other happenings in the organization in the last few months. Our cover story dwells on the proposed social sector spending in the 2020 National Budget in which we observe a consistent decline in budget
allocation since 2018. The story critically analyses Government’s commitment to some of the priority sectors and emphases the need for the authorities to ring-fence the social protection budget in these difficult times. The story goes further to suggest budget items which can be reduced to favour pro-poor spending which is a driver of overall poverty reduction and pro-poor growth. Other articles address issues that have dominated economic policy debate in the country in the last few years namely the mounting debt overhang, the Economic Stabilization and Growth Programme and a potential IMF programme. We have been recommending measures for curtailing debt accumulation,
bringing spending under control and signing to an IMF programme to support a return to higher growth rates, while managing the impact on the poor.
