Windhoek: Minister of Finance and Social Grants Management, Ericah Shafudah, on Tuesday tabled the 2025/26 Appropriation Amendment Bill in the National Assembly, proposing a reallocation of N.dollars 1.2 billion across key ministries and agencies to meet urgent funding needs.

According to Namibia Press Agency, Shafudah highlighted that the Mid-Year Budget Review provided an opportunity to optimize resource distribution and ensure the government stays aligned with its development objectives. She noted that the review process allows for necessary adjustments to achieve planned annual development goals.

The minister revealed that these amendments were prompted by additional expenditure requests totaling N.dollars 11.1 billion, which emerged during consultations in September 2025. However, faced with revenue shortfalls of N.dollars 3.2 billion and low execution rates on certain capital projects, the government chose to focus on targeted reallocations instead of increasing overall spending.

Shafudah detailed that N.dollars 814 million has been reallocated to the Ministry of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture. Of this, N.dollars 663 million is designated for tertiary registration and tuition fees for the first quarter of 2026, and N.dollars 151 million is allocated for the recruitment of 665 teachers.

An additional N.dollars 185 million is allocated to the Ministry of Health and Social Services to hire 1,537 healthcare workers, while N.dollars 61 million is directed to the Ministry of Finance under the contingency provision.

Other significant allocations include N.dollars 50 million to the Presidency for expenses related to the oil and gas unit and security upgrades, and another N.dollars 50 million for the National Emergency Disaster Fund under the Office of the Prime Minister. Moreover, N.dollars 30 million is allocated to the Electoral Commission of Namibia for by-elections during the current financial year.

The National Assembly will receive an additional N.dollars 15 million to cover personnel expenditure shortfalls and Parliamentary committees' oversight, along with N.dollars 30 million for purchasing a building to accommodate Members of Parliament offices.

Despite these reallocations, Shafudah stated that the total budget for the financial year remains at N.dollars 89.4 billion, with operational expenditure revised upward to N.dollars 80.6 billion and the development budget reduced to N.dollars 8.8 billion.