Govt foreign travel costs down

Finance Minister Tendai Biti’s policy to “eat what we gather” appears to have started bearing fruit following reports that foreign travel costs accrued by government officials amounted to $10 million against a budget of $12, 6 million for the second quarter ending June 30.

According to the Accountant General’s Consolidated Statement of Financial Performance, travel costs incurred by globe-trotting government bureaucrats between April and June were under the budget.

Biti in his Mid-Year Fiscal Year Review announced austerity measures in government, including cutting foreign travel, saying government revenue had reached a “plateau” owing to trickling inflows from the sale of diamonds.

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