BUJUMBURA, February 21st (ABP) – The Standing Committee on Public Accounts and Finance, Economic Affairs and Planning presented, on Wednesday, February 19, 2025, in plenary session of the National Assembly, a note on the revised National Development Plan of Burundi 2018-2027 and its Priority Action Plan 2023-2027.
The commission also presented the annual report of the Bank of the Republic of Burundi (BRB) for the 2023 financial year.
Concerning the first presentation, the chairman of the said commission, Hon. Rédempteur Gahitira, said that the National Development Plan (PND) had been revised to adapt it to the vision of “Burundi, an emerging country by 2040 and a developed country in 2060”. Thus, its priority action plan for 2023-2027 was drawn up. According to him, the document marks the beginning of national ownership of planning because, he said, the plan was drawn up by Burundian experts, he added.
According to Hon. Gahitira, the revised PND contains strategic axes, including strategic goals such as the structural transformation of the sustainable and digital economy aimed at promoting sectors that drive sustained growth and create jobs, the development of human capital and social inclusion. The goal is to improve the supply and access to basic social services, the environment and cultural and natural heritage aimed at protecting ecology and heritage, cooperation and mobilization of resources in order to develop international cooperation for efficient mobilization of resources, to name but a few.
Concerning the priority action plan, he indicated that it is structured into 18 priority programmes, 72 projects and 368 indicators, with funding estimated at 85,704.8 billion Burundi francs over a 5-year period.
Presenting the BRB annual report for the 2023 financial year, Mr. Gahitira indicated that the persistence of high inflation, which was around 9% on average in 2022, has pushed the central banks of many developed and developing countries to proceed with the accelerated tightening of monetary policy by raising their interest rates during the year 2023.
During their interventions, the deputies hoped that the BRB could ensure price stability to compensate for this inflation. Furthermore, Burundians must, for their part, increase agricultural production instead of always complaining about the rise in food prices, they suggested.