Friday, March 29, 2024

Britain gives Zambia over K65m towards the budget support

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Secretary to the Treasury Fredson Yamba
Secretary to the Treasury Fredson Yamba

The British government has disbursed £6.5 Million which is equivalent to K65.6 million budget support to Zambia.

The support will be channelled through Britain’s Department for International Development (DFID).

In a confirmation letter to the Secretary to the Treasury Fredson Yamba, Resident Head of DFID, Emma Donnelly, said the release of the 2014 budget support was based on Zambia’s impressive progress in several areas of cooperation.

“There has been no evidence of breach of the four underlying principles of poverty reduction budget support,” she said.

Ms. Donnelly said Britain welcomed the fiscal measures taken by the Zambian government to not only keep vigil on the budget deficit and strengthen fiscal discipline.

The British development cooperation envoy also commended Zambia for substantially scaling-up the social transfer scheme and making progress towards development of a full IMF programme.

She affirmed Britain’s commitment to continue supporting development efforts by focusing more on complimenting the Zambian government’s endeavours aimed at better management of poverty reduction programmes, through DFID support to the private sector in ways that facilitate pro-poor growth.

According to a statement released to ZANIS today by Ministry of Finance Public Relations Officer Chileshe Kandeta, Mr. Yamba thanked the British people for their timely assistance and reiterated the governments’ commitment to utilize the funds on poverty reducing activities.

“Notwithstanding the source of revenue, the best way to honour the late President Michael Chilufya Sata for his principled approach on fiscal discipline, infrastructure development and poverty reduction is to ensure that there are no slippages in resource utilisation,” said Mr. Yamba.

Britain is the first Poverty Reduction Budget Support [PRBS] Cooperating Partner to release committed funds for supporting the government’s 2014 budget.

Meanwhile, Zambia’s two Sovereign Bonds that were issued in the International Capital Market has continued to post positive performance.

“According to market assessments, Zambia’s US$1 Billion Bond currently trading at 113%, has the best price amongst the African Sovereigns. The price for the US$750 Million bond, at 95.38%, is an improvement from the below 90% levels recorded in the first and second quarters of 2014,” the Secretary to the Treasury has observed.

Commenting on the US$750 Million Bond, Mr. Yamba disclosed that the yield has strengthened and the bond is now trading at a rate of 6.23 percent, up from the 8 percent levels recorded in April 2014.

Mr. Yamba assured that the Treasury will continue to issue briefs to ensure that credible information is shared with the public, both locally and in the international socio-economic arena.

The USD 750 Million bond matures in 2022 while the USD1 Billion bond matures in 2024, respectively.

14 COMMENTS

  1. From Scotland as well.

    I hope this helps ease what the British press wants to see.

    Guy Scott as the next president

    Thanks

  2. Thanks Britain (or is it Guy Scot?). But Britain please do not tie hidden agendas to this and try to dictate our transition, we are in no mood for that.

  3. And what is this thing about developing an IMF programme? Are weback to HIPC or what? Fredson Yamba, Hon Chilwanda, say something! No wonder wage freeze, but I support wage freeze anyway in so far as government commits to normalising salary scales not paying office orderlies more than professionals abd firing 300 nurses who rightly protested that nonsense.

  4. We always get these monies whats the fuss…..the monies are only held when and if we fail to meet any good governance record layed down by a donor country.e.g Zimbambwe does not get these monies now from both America and US.
    The biggest shame is that we can not survive without these monies.Shame on us?
    Anyone one ever heard of sanctions?These are the firsts monies donor countries clamp on.Followed by trade .Then the people start suffering resulting in civil unrest and then you unsit the goverment the ballot for us Zambians(luckily ).
    When you change government the donor comes back and dangles the carrot to new goverment and that goverment puppets and the circle bigins again.And thats how the powerful rule the weak.
    DEAD AID??Dambisa Moyo.

  5. Any sensible person knows that the colonialists do not give money for nothing,what’s in it for them? Be wary of imperialists coming back to Africa.
    Laughable that people are happy about this.

    • If the money is coming from. Britain then let it come in truckloads! Our money is coming home, coming home our money is coming home! Now sing along! coming home, coming home our money is coming home!

  6. After ALL the “Don’t Kubeba” nonsense, the way people were treated, lying to the nation that the President was in good health when he was not and not even telling the nation what kill him, any Zambia with a healthy functioning brain would NOT give PF a vote.

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