Commerce, Trade and Industry Minister Felix Mutati has said Zambia’s trade surplus is this year expected to reach over US$1.2billion.
The country last year recorded a trade surplus of US$1,178.4 million from US$34.6 million 2005.
“Zambia’s trade surplus will this year hit over US$1.2 billion,†Mr Mutati said in an interview in Lusaka
Mr Mutati said the growth would be fuelled by the favourable macroeconomic environment which has seen the local economy strengthening, with lower inflation rates and real gross domestic growth projected at seven per cent.
He said the increase in copper production, which was expected to reach more than 600, 000 tonnes this year compared to 500,000 last year coupled with increasing production in the non-tradition export category, would drive the growth.
Last year’s, Zambia trade surplus was because of increased merchandise exports earnings.
This was on account of an increase in the international price of copper to record levels coupled with the buoyant growth in copper exports volumes.
And Mr Mutati said the weak infrastructural capacity in the country was hindering further growth in the country’s economy.
He said currently the available infrastructure had not marched with the continued pressure put on it by the country’s growing economy.
“Obviously, the area of infrastructure needs to be looked at.
Infrastructure, telecommunication, transport, electricity hasn’t improved to march the economic growth,†he added.
What is the govt’s roadmap to address this infrastructure under-development? This is what needs to be addressed expeditiously despite the collosal amounts required.
The will for development should emerge stronger than the forces of under-development.
Aluta continua!!
The thing I hate about such talk is the luck of references. What does he mean when he says ‘weak infrastructural capacity’? What would we have as ‘strong infrastructural capacity’? I would like him to say ‘We need to build 30 more silos in the next 5 years along the maize to meet the increasing demand for storage’, ‘we need to make the roads from Livingstone to konkola dual carriage in the next 2 years to meet the increased movement of goods and services along this way’, ‘we need to build a water pipe line from Konkola, the wetest mine, through Mukushi to the Southern province, in the next 4 years to meet the increasing demand for water, interms of human consumption and irrigation’,’we need to build rails connecting all our major towns and bring in state of the art trains in the next 10 years so as to easy passenger dependence on the roads’. This example tells me, a leyman, exactly what poor infrastractural capacity is and what needs to be done.