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Finance and National Planning Minister, Situmbeko Musokotwane, has called for urgent debt relief for Zambia to help it maintain its economic recovery strides.
The minister stated that the continued delays to conclude the country’s debt restructuring was impacting key economic fundamentals of the country.
Musokotwane said in the statement on Tuesday that the uncertainty created by the protracted restructuring process had put pressure on the currency.
“This is making it difficult to attract much-needed foreign investment, despite Zambia’s vast natural resources and improved business climate,” he said.
Musokotwane observed that with support from the Interntional Monetary Fund (IMF) Zambia had played its part by making significant progress in implementing an ambitious reform agenda to stabilise the economy, increase transparency and borrowing oversight, as well as implement prudent spending reforms.
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“Therefore, debt relief is urgently needed for Zambia to maintain its trajectory of economic recovery and growth,” he said.
He appreciated the significant effort from all of Zambia’s creditors as the country works towards an agreement on debt restructuring.
Musokotwane said the government was grateful for the ongoing productive consultations.
“We now appeal to our Official Creditor Committee in their next meeting to make substantial progress in their deliberations. This will facilitate preparation of the Memorandum of Understanding, so that we may swiftly resolve our debt overhang and access our next tranche of IMF financing,” he said.
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