Africa-Press – Zambia. Southern Province minister Cornelius Mweetwa has said that Zambians have to endure the pain arising from the removal subsidies for now, which he said is one of the austerity measures the UPND administration has put in place to rebuild the economy.
Featuring on Radio Phoenix programme dubbed “Let the People Talk,” on Tuesday, Mweetwa said that the UPND government inherited a crippling economy with unsustainable debt and economic growth of negative two.
He said that the Patriot Front administration engaged in excessive borrowing to appease the people without taking into consideration that the country has an obligation to pay the debt.
Mweetwa said that, as things stand, the electoral promises that the UPND made while in opposition have to be fulfilled within the prevailing economic situation.
“The high inflation rate has contributed to the high cost of living. Secondly, the high cost of living is informed by the high cost of production, arising from the high cost of fuel. Remember that as a country we import fuel,” explained Mweetwa. “And the nation may wish to know that we (the UPND administration) inherited a crippling economy with unsustainable debt. In 2021 our economy growth rate was negative two. The previous government was excessively borrowing billions of dollars to appease the people without taking into consideration the fact that the country has to pay that debt. We were defaulting, thereby leaving a burden on innocent citizens. We are not the ones that created this economic malaise we are in today. The electoral promises we made now have to be fulfilled within the prevailing economic situation.
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