Tuesday, March 19, 2024

IMF and Zambia still discussing on the financial aid category and terms-Baldini

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the-IMF1THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) is ready to pursue and agree with the Zambian government on the monetary aid package that will help the country’s economic recovery programme, newly-appointed resident representative to Zambia Alfredo Baldini has said.

In response to a press query yesterday, Mr Baldini said: “The IMF and the Zambian authorities have been in talks about a possible IMF-supported programme… IMF staff stands ready to pursue these issues with the new government that will be formed after the inauguration.”

On what conditionalities are likely to be attached to the impending bail-out, Mr Baldini said the two parties are still discussing on the financial aid category and terms.

“At this stage, however, there have been no formal negotiations on the type of arrangement or potential size of financial support,” Mr Baldini noted.

Nevertheless, sources at Ministry of Finance have indicated that Zambia will be availed a financial aid package of between US$1.2 billion and US$ 1.5 billion, with conditions that electricity and fuel subsidies should be removed and that fiscal policy should be tightened to avoid unnecessary public expenditures, among other things.

Recently, President Lungu also told the business community that Government and IMF have made great progress and reached broad consensus on key areas of the Bretton woods programme whose components will be agreed upon.

President Lungu hinted of rapid but progressive migration to a cost-reflective tariff structure in the electricity and fuel sub-sectors, restructuring in agricultural subsidies, broad policy measures to accelerate economic growth and controlled spending during his next five years tenure.

President Lungu was re-elected in the August 11, 2016 general elections and will be sworn in on September 13.

52 COMMENTS

  1. Ba LT,

    Why mislead that ….”President Lungu …will be sworn in on September 13.”

    You know that there is matter in the High Court. You are aware of appeal procedures too in case matter fails in lower court.

    Further you are aware of the non derogable (can’t be done away with) right to be heard in the Bill of Rights Art 18 of 1996 Constitution (and please don’t say there is a 2016 doc for Bill of Rights) as read with Art 259 of the 2016 Constitution.

    We still have a long way to go. Ultimately the truth will surface.

    • ….the clown above (Sindamisale) doesn’t know that his party has no evidence but a long long long long list of silly preliminary issues live:

      (i) hand over power to the Speaker (gosh)

      (ii) fire the judges (ya ba)

      (iii) count days (must be a form of birth control)

      (iv) tell off the court….

    • Bwana forget it you should advise your HH and time wasters lawyers to move on we had to wait for the con-court because it is more superior that the high court and next week the government will in so that we can start working rather than waiting for two people s interest at the expense of many Zambians, However the IMF bailout should no affect our living standard in a negative way and money should surely used for the intended purpose then our economy will be back on truck

    • It’s like you get kaloba and after some enjoyments with your family at home and you even win Parents of the year award …you decide to get a more structured Kaloba from the Bank and then you now have to make serious adjustments at home now downgrading your livelyhood. You then turn around and blame the bank for being a Monster that is only interested in seeing your children suffer. …just trying to make it simple for Cadres out there hehehehe!!!

    • Elo lwanya!
      Baisa ba IMF mukusenda impya shabo. Welcome IMF, teach them the PF hoodlums about the economy and pay back all the debts which they personally pocketed instead of economically improving the country.
      Mwapya!

    • @TLCVX 200

      History is replete with your kind; those that shout down and belittle truth.

      Truth is thankfully more resilient than crooks of all hues you are part of.

      Bark, menace, scream, push or thug: truth will prevail.

      The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob cannot be mocked.

    • The $1.2 – $1.5 Billion will last for 6 months….. it will be used for consumption….. to pay existing outstanding debts. We all saw how quickly the previous PF government got through the Eurobonds, I dont recall how many Billions (6or7?). No consideration has been given in how to pay back the Eurobonds and Zambia is borrowing even more money from the IMF.

    • Stop kidding your selves. When IMF steps in ,they do not necessarily come to aid development they come to assist you in servicing the loans you have already squandard. A good example is the Greek case which is still going on.

      The terms of the package considered include political risk which is always taken serious. Right now political risk is extremely high under PF because it allows commitment of crimes with impunity. A good example is Zimbabwe. It can nolonger borrow money from IMF because high political risk which impedes economic progress and in turn affects the ability of the country to pay back the loan.

      Of interest to the package is how PF it influenced and bullied the concourt to delay the hearing and then technically dismiss it on the time limit ground.

      Do not be…

    • Do not be cheated. The first instalment of the bailout is going straight to service Euro bond loans already squandered. The second instalment will come at a price of reducing the salaries of all government paid workers by 35% to 50% and cutting ministerial and DC jobs by also 50% because the government is bloated.

      Zambian missions abroad will also be cut by 50% by merging services. So all of you PF cadres in missions abroad who were singing dununa reverse you will soon be sent home.

      Salary cutting will be systematically done by first devaluing the Kwacha by 100% and then increase salaries by 10% each year for the next 5 year. Alternatively PF will be forced to freeze salaries of workers until 2021 will only increasing their salaries.

      Other measures will include to allow fuel…

    • Immoral and uncouth are HH and blob running mate. They will scream and swing their marbles from their throats but they will still never rule Zambia.

  2. And to all PF insulting fringe, I have this to say.

    Why not debate in civility and respect rights enshrined in the constitution. Many of you will need these same rights when you are arraigned before courts for what you specialise in: theft, corruption and looting whilst throwing red herrings and hot smoke using your favourite refrain of bitter, tribal,regional etc as you loot and rape government coffers.

    • …here he is again (Sindamisale) #eyes_rolling

      UPND have totally forgotten that in 2015 they campaigned for the new constitution.The great ECL delivered it.

      Manje ba upnd completely forgot to read it kikikikiki…

      ……and how to count.

    • IMF will come and run Zambia because Chakolwa and his thugs have no capacity to run the economy after the stole the Eurobonds. IMF will not put money into the economy for it to be stolen again by Chakolwa and his thieving minions.

    • Sindamisale,

      They can’t because their level of proficiency in thinking is inept. All what PF cadres want is confusing and violence.
      Otherwise just leave them with their colloquial and vengeance full of madness. To expect a PF cadres engaging in a civil and mature way is like waiting to witness the camel to pass through the needles eye.

    • @TLCVX 200

      No one knows ALL law for it is continually evolving whenever it’s before a Judge.

      I however know both a bit of counting and law, being a trained professional in both. Am not your average joe blogs. I LOVE freedom.

      Today once more the newspaper vendor told me of daily robbery of copies of the ost and beatings from you PF thugs who are hell bent to keep the populace ignorant but for your propaganda.

      PF has a propaganda wing to blog lies. Daily.

      But you will not manage to asphyxiate truth.

  3. We are very un-repentant. After HIPC we said we will ensure we do not become debt burden and all the creditors basically forgave us debt. A few years down the line here we are again asking for debt a kind that makes citizens suffer a great deal. Dununa reverse mwaniya bamabala. Any increase in electricity and fuel will mean high living cost of living. Every commodity will increase in price. Ubunga, saladi, ama egesi, bured, shuga, soti, sopo, umukaka, taransport, parafini, peturo, dizelo, amalaiti all because of politicians whom you are always singing praise and worship for even to an extent of forgetting praise for God. Ba chikwanda and Sampa always assured the nation ati Zambia is got space for more debt. We made roads using Chinese labour and now we are stuck again, where will the…

    • where will the money to maintain these roads come from. For the next few years we will be stuck with IMF trying to clear their debt while making the poor poorer. Please bwana politicians can we for the first time change. Let us make use of our people productively. Today we borrow from china some money to make roads and china brings their contractor and they make the road and we the government pay the chinese contractor for making the roads. The chinese contractor takes the money back to china and we remain owning the chinese millions of dollars which them have not even spent. And you same politicians make us sing Sonta dununa reverse songs yet it is us who now suffer paying back these loans.It is hard to be at the bottom in Zambia. very hard so much that parents can’t afford to provide

  4. where will the money to maintain these roads come from. For the next few years we will be stuck with IMF trying to clear their debt while making the poor poorer. Please bwana politicians can we for the first time change. Let us make use of our people productively. Today we borrow from china some money to make roads and china brings their contractor and they make the road and we the government pay the chinese contractor for making the roads. The chinese contractor takes the money back to china and we remain owning the chinese millions of dollars which them have not even spent. And you same politicians make us sing Sonta dununa reverse songs yet it is us who now suffer paying back these loans. It is hard to be at the bottom in Zambia. very hard so much that parents can’t afford to provide…

  5. Chickens are coming home to roost. The effects of five years of mismanagement and policy inconsistency. This government thought it could overspend without raising taxes. It’s a rebalancing to take place over three years for the five years of damage.

    Ni Dununa Reverse.

  6. UPND supporters please stop predict or wishing for bad things to happen in Zambia don’t you think of your self’s and your children time for politics and campaign are over now the opposition has to offer check and balance to the government lets start working together now

    • @Wisdom

      It’s such condescending narrative that keeps this nation in a gridlock of mediocrity superimposed on all manner of ills; dupery, mendacity, cleverness, cheating, corruption etc.

      How can the hangman (IMF) knock on the door even before the election process is complete when the Respondent at great tax payer expense went around telling voters that his stewardship of the economy was excellent and even sent thugs to beat his opponents who refused to join in his dununa reverse deception of the century.

      Lungu is a liar and cheat. A violent one at that. But he is only being himself. His track record is there: violence , theft, conman.

    • Sindamisale let us reason together and as you said no insults please. Since you have studied law… could you please explain why during the 14 days of hearing the UPND lawyers did not concentrate on the main petition . Would you agree that this was the crux of the matter? Would you also agree that since UPND had evidence had this evidence been brought to court the matter could have taken a different turn? With all the evidence which UPND gathered did their lawyers lack tact. I personally know Sangwa very sharp legal brains but am failing to understand how him and the team fouled this case.

    • Sindamisale this is bringing a lot of Zambians including those that were initially sympathetic to the UPND cause to doubt the existence of this much talked about evidence. You can not blame them ….Many people now believe that UPND are not ready to accept defeat in the just ended elections….and are actually wasting every one time through this court process. They were given an opportunity to be heard but what did they do .?…they wasted time on immaterial issues not the main petition…

    • @ WISDOM, What r u doing here? U should be watching DeadNBC. PF is closing down Private Media, so U have no right to be here. Go & read Daily Fail & watch DeadNBC.

    • @Chiweme

      I was doing minding the business and thus late response.

      I have absolutely no idea why UPND didn’t figure out that ECL got PF presidency using legal gymnastics which he would use if they didn’t play ball quickly. I had earlier advised them ominously at that time that ConCourt may just not hear the matter.

      I was wrong. By abandoning petition, they have done a tsunami dununa reverse on commonwealth jurisprudence. More is yet to come.

  7. Here is part of the deal that PF and IMF will have to negotiate:
    – Realign public wage bill down to 8% or less. Meaning wage and hiring freeze for perhaps two years.
    – Raise tax rates especially on income tax.
    – Removal of fuel, electricity and agric subsidies.
    – Pension reform to make the fund sustainable.
    – Reform of public procurement.
    – Review fuel formula at ERB.

  8. It’s STUP1D for PF Govt to bring back IMF
    iT’S ID1OTIC for PF to shackle Zambians to Chinese & IMF debt
    It’s F00LISH for PF Monkeys to take Zambia back to UNIP days

    No one can say where the EUROBOND went. Chinese loans were used on roads which will be pot-holed in the next 2 years. Contracts were given to Chinese companies who wired the money to China. It’s like we r paying twice for the same loan.

    PF cadres should pay for these loans coz they & their STYOPET LEADERS signed for the loans.

  9. Don’t talk of controlled expenditure can you tar the Kazungula to Mwandi to Mulobezi road that cost Kaingu votes, Sata promised us a tarred road.

  10. Why is IMF rushing to foist a Financing Program on Zambia? IMF should leave Zambia to put its House in order. The New Govt that will emerge after settling our Constitutional Dispute will approach the IMF for funding. Why is IMF behaving as if they have chosen a PF govt for us Zambians? IMF should stop interfering in our internal politics. They should stop this Partisan approach to Zambia’s Financial needs. In anycase the PF govt borrowed billion of Dollars in Euro Bonds and that money was all squandered by the wasteful PF govt. Why didn’t IMF stop this? IMF should not underwrite a PF Govt. The should deal with the Govt of Zambia for the people and by the People. IMF should issue a statement correcting the impression that they are dealing with a PF Govt. This matter is in Court right now…

    • This is what the IMF always does. They have their own agenda, which is the globalisation of the world’s economy, and Zambia’s national interests do not figure in that agenda. This is why their advice is the same in every country they go to: cut fuel, food and small farmer subsidies. Let transnational corporations expatriate all of their profits without paying taxes. And that’s because the IMF/World Bank and for instance Anglo-American De Beers, Rio Tinto and Royal Dutch Shell are all influenced/controlled/owned by the same trillionair family. They are colluding. Same family that invented the Eurobonds.

  11. IMF here I come!! Unfortunately it is us common citizens who will be made to sacrifice. As for the “superior” citizens it will be business and luxury as usual. They will continue travelling abroad with huge delegations at great government cost and chartering luxurious planes to America and Europe.

  12. Please Zambia don’t invite the IMF. It’s a white man’s organization that understands shiiit about Zambia or Africa.
    Can’t we please, please borrow from China or from AIIB bank please…
    We are going to be humiliated. Why stop subscides in Zambia when all American and European farms functions with the aid from government and EU.
    Please stop them from coming to Zambia

  13. IMF Structural Adjustment Programme killed the ZIM-DOLLAR.
    IMF has been invited because government has run out of money. In JULY 2016, Zambia’s Trade Deficit was K473Million, a gap which BOZ needs to “FILL UP” otherwise KWACHA starts to BLEED.
    IMF STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT PLAN conditions will see PF-Govt reducing expenditure on health, education & social welfare, and raising taxes among others whilst companies will start closing shop & people losing jobs, thus making it even harder for PF-Govt to raise the money to pay IMF loans.
    Then PF-Govt will start to default on the IMF loans. The downside effect will be that PF-Govt won`t be able to get money from the IMF, World Bank, the Chinese or any other monetary institutions for Balance of Payments (BOPs). This will increase inflation & then…

  14. Time to dance to the slave master’s tune…you thought all that recklessness will be non stop. Infintu ni Lungu….please add another condition …Fossil Chikwanda has to go!!

  15. Angola refused the IMF loan because it thoughts its reserves were sufficient. Look at them now. They had to depreciate their currency and cut expenditure on infrastructure big time.

    On Monday, the Minister of Finance lost his job. Signs that they now have their dancing shoes on and are ready to do chikokoshi with the Fund.

    Just tighten your belts badununa.

  16. No need to institute rapid but progressive migration to cost-reflective tariff structure in the electricity & fuel sub-sectors, restructuring in agricultural subsidies, broad policy measures to accelerate economic growth & controlled spending when obtaining new IMF loan. We need to be implemented these on our own before obtaining a loan & go for loan when it fails. You can’t implement something forced on you just because you need a loan. So many people have offered before to be baptised in churches where they have spotted lovely spouses, only to backslide after marriage. There’s is no need of auctioning the country, the problems being faced are temporal & situation will change as global effects improve. IMF behaves like the devil which asked Jesus to turn rocks into loaves bread when he…

  17. Let’s see Lungu that corrupt thief leading PF thugs in dununa reverse after he inebriates in smooth whisky whilst the crowd from makomboni are mbulu mbulu mumala …..cos of imf.

  18. Sindamisale, the high court has thrown out HH. Again lose, yaba!
    So next he goes to the lusaka magistrates court. Tell him that there is chilenje local court too, near where he lives.

  19. Now that IMF is on the go to administer those bitter austerity pills even oxygen intake will increasingly become toxic for this poor lot called Zambia. Mama mia!

  20. Zambia will be availed a financial aid package of between US$1.2 billion and US$ 1.5 billion, with conditions that electricity and fuel subsidies should be removed and that fiscal policy should be tightened to avoid unnecessary public expenditures, among other things.

    What happened to the $3 billion worth of Eurobonds? Who was that Finance Minister who said Zambia didn’t need a Windfall Tax, “You can always borrow.” Musokotwane? Chikwanda?

  21. This is how Puerto Rico is being shaken down. The neoliberals there too first threw the state into debt. Now, they are ‘negotiating’ their unpayable debt of $72 billion.

    (TRUE ACTIVIST) Hedge Funds Just Told Puerto Rico To Close Schools To Pay Back Its Debt!

    The group of 34 hedge funds hired former International Monetary Fund (IMF) economists to come up with a solution to Puerto Rico’s debt crisis after the island’s governor declared its $72bn debt “unpayable” – paving the way for bankruptcy.

    “They are proposing teacher layoffs, cuts in higher education and health benefits, as well as increased taxes. These proposals have been a disaster for Latin…

  22. It is surprising that some bloggers still see this issue as a PF vs UPND. The truth is that with IMF expect serious austerity measures whether you are “Forward” or “Reverse” and the truth will soon come home to bite. And who is to blame? The government that took over from MMD for ruining the economy (yes they have done well with infrastructure development) and running back to IMF medicine.

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