{"id":30931,"date":"2022-09-10T19:26:54","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T19:26:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/the-imf-lifeboat-well-done-mr-president"},"modified":"2022-09-10T19:45:02","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T19:45:02","slug":"the-imf-lifeboat-well-done-mr-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/the-imf-lifeboat-well-done-mr-president","title":{"rendered":"The IMF lifeboat \u2013 well done Mr President"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. <\/strong><\/span>The tax base has been gravely eroded. Manufacturing, which for long has been Zambia\u2019s economic locomotive \u2013 second to mining is virtually dead. That Zambia became the first nation to default on its debt repayment obligations in the Covid-19 era is emblematic of the country\u2019s fiscal predicament.<\/p>\n

In addition, existing economic policy framework is prohibitive to investment as exemplified by the previous dispensation\u2019s seizure of mining conglomerate Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) from its owners, Vedanta. It is chiefly the reason global mining giants skipped Zambia to set up shop across the Luapula river. And impact of their investment is telling in the fact that the strife-torn Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is now the continent\u2019s biggest copper producing nation by volume.<\/p>\n

For example, in 2021, the DRC produced an estimated 1.8 million metric tonnes tons of Copper. To put this into context, this jaw-dropping figure represents a more than five-fold increase in the DRC\u2019s copper production output since 2010. Compare this to Zambia\u2019s paltry 880 thousand metric tonnes output for the 2021 trading period? This downward spiral to a sector contributing nearly 10% to the country\u2019s GDP is the inevitable culmination of a long process of economic decline exacerbated by policy uncertainty.<\/p>\n

Simply put: who would want to invest in an environment that can\u2019t guarantee investment rights? Say what you may, it is a fact that economic fundamentals have transformed in recent months. In the eyes of the international corridors of capital, President Hakainde Hichilema is an upgrade and better suited to reign in on fiscal indiscipline than his predecessor. Barely a year into his reign, inflation has dipped below 10% for the first time in 3 years, prompting the Kwacha to rise as the world\u2019s best performing currency. Needless to remind, these are facts.<\/p>\n

While more needs to be done to boost momentum in economic growth, there is now a semblance of certainty in the business regulatory environment. Is it safe to bet that Zambia has indeed returned to the champions league of African economies? Good question. The absence of a correlation to a strong Kwacha weighted against the basket of rising food prices is a misnomer \u2013 it means nothing to a household in Bauleni or Kanyama that is battling to put food on the table. However, that investors are warming up to the country\u2019s economic proposition is by far the biggest indicator of Zambia\u2019s rising fortunes.<\/p>\n

Let us be clear though, while not the responsibility of Journalists to tango in song and dance with governments, it is however important to acknowledge and celebrate key victories in so far as they pertain to economic and social development. Don\u2019t be fooled, fact is the IMF\u2019s decision to agreeing to restructure Zambia\u2019s debt is a bigly to borrow, Donald Trump\u2019s words \u2013 by the way, he is hardly our role model.<\/p>\n

And the bigotry in the criticism levelled against this milestone is rooted in the fact that the PF tried but in vain to secure this same package \u2013 hence their criticism is nothing but duplicitous. Off course, the benefits of securing this package won\u2019t trickle down to the grassroots anytime soon but this does lay a strong foundation for structural economic reforms. For example, Zambia\u2019s huge foreign and domestic debt (combined) is estimated at K417bn.<\/p>\n

Consider the fact that servicing this debt gobbles up to 70% of domestic revenues estimated at K99bn, this leaves the fiscus with almost nothing to inject into much needed economic and social development programs. While there is an obvious injection of liquidity into the economy, all that government has done is to request a moratorium on debt repayments \u2013 which has since been granted.<\/p>\n

\u2018Tulelomba uluse nobwelelo kuli imwe ba shylock pali iyi kaloba twakongola. Pakubala, katuyi papansheko mumatumba lilya tulewayaya\u2019 is the more literal interpretation mu chibemba of what this economic bailout entails. There isn\u2019t any other way of spinning this development \u2013 kunyina, mudala, batamubeji. Against this background, the onus is upon this government to prove to its donors that the confidence and goodwill bestowed upon them won\u2019t be misplaced through reckless spending. Can our mining and manufacturing industries now begin to hum again please?<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Zambia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. The tax base has been gravely eroded. Manufacturing, which for long has been Zambia\u2019s economic locomotive \u2013 second to mining is virtually dead. That Zambia became the first nation to default on its debt repayment obligations in the Covid-19 era is emblematic of the country\u2019s fiscal predicament. In addition, existing economic policy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":30930,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6,8,16],"tags":[234,235,233],"class_list":["post-30931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","category-homepage-english","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-zambia","tag-zambia"],"yoast_head":"\nThe IMF lifeboat \u2013 well done Mr President - Zambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The tax base has been gravely eroded. 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