Minister of Finance Felix Mutati says fundamentals of the economy have improved during the first half of 2017.
However, Mr. Mutati says economic players in the country should not relax following the development.
The Minister says the appreciation of the kwacha in particular is reflection of increased supply of foreign exchange arising from participation of foreign portfolio investors in government securities.
He added that the continued strong copper prices and market confidence also supported the appreciation of the kwacha which is currently trading about K8.8 to the United States dollars.
He noted that government is alive to the need for stability of the exchange rate as it is supportive of both exporters and importers.
On the Gross Domestic Product(GDP) growth, Mr. Mutati expressed his confidence that the projected growth rate of 4.3 percent for 2017 remains feasible following the developments in the first half of the 2017.
He said the growth is mainly driven by major sectors such as agriculture, mining, construction, transport, wholesale, and retail trade among others.
ZANIS report that this is according to a statement by the ministry’s Public relations unit on the mid-year performance of the country’s economy and periodical developments.
Meanwhile, Mr. Mutati says government has come up with other measures aimed at enhancing revenue collection by implementing initiatives such as the use of fiscal devisees to further enhance VAT collections and reduce cheating especially in retail and wholesale sectors.
He said the appointment of agents for withholding tax on rental income will also to enhance compliance.
Mr. Mutati explained that Zambia Revenue authority (ZRA) offered the business community a tax amnesty on interest and penalties arising from late returns and non-payments on all tax liabilities which ends on July 31, 2017.
He said K833.2 million is expected to be collected from the tax amnesty on interest and penalties against the targeted K750 million.
The Finance Minister stated in the same statement that the total debt collection target for ZRA including the expected amount from the amnesty was K2.25 billion and that K2.212 billion was collected between January and June 2017.
He has urged business community to take advantage of the remaining few days as there will be no extension.
Mr. Mutati further said government has designed a medium term time specific arrears dismantling strategy to address the problem of domestic arrears.
He said government will clear the arrears including through the use of budgetary provisions and restructuring of some of the debt into longer term debt instruments.
And the Minister said shareholders of the intermarket Bank Corporation have made progress and the bank is expected to be soon operational.
Mr. Mutati said capitalization of the bank has been done and the shareholders will be announcing the new management team soon.
He said government is monitoring the developments at the bank to ensure that the re-opening of the institution is done quickly.
* We are at a single digit inflation figure!!!!-UPND said infaltion go freefall like it did in Zimbabwe-
*Kwacha stable at K8.5- it was as high as K15 and UPND said it would reach over K100 to the USD
*Bumper Haverst- UPND said we would experience a famine
*Peace- UPND have constantly attempted to plunge the nation into turmoil starting from the Namwala attacks, holding rallies without permits, insulting the govt, blocking Presidential motorcades, not recognising an internationally recognised Head of State
Generally things are better than what the sa.tanic tibal party UPNDunderheads predicted! All praise be to God! But yes more needs to be done!!!
#2021 vote ECL!!!!!
Since HH was jailed I have noticed that the country is doing well on all fronts.
Coincident ?
I hold a PhD
Thanks
BB2014,2016
Speak for yourself Mr. Mutati. We know the economy is now good for you, your relatives & friends.
If the economy is good, why are you not paying suppliers & contractors? Most contractors have halted projects due to your non-payment. Why are we still borrowing on top of the $17.4 Billion?
We need low interest rates, the rates before PF came & destroyed the economy. A strong kwacha with high interest rates is pointless for businessmen.
A Country where there is no vision, everything fails.
The MMD runner away to PF~Mutati is just yapping as usual!
The IMF & World Bank are laughing at PF bandits buffoonery of SOE amid a plummeted economy. The 4.3% improvement in the economy Mutati is “licking”~tick tock~ing~about the kaloba PF bandits got during load shedding & SOE weeks ago.
What the PF bandits of visionless Lungu should know is that, $12 billion of kaloba they danced with dununa reverse of a melted economy must be fully paid by 2022. IMF is throaty~drilling PF bandits.
After his 2015~ 1st of office & now visionless Lungu’s 2016~2rd term of office ends in 2021! The constitution doesn’t allow 3rd term for blind Lungu~Mwamoneni tu PF bandits. PF dictatorship ends in 2021 or even before.
How will PF bandits pay…
…. off the 12 billion US dollars kaloba?
By the way, how much is maize and mealie meal per Kg today? Say ‘big thanks’ to~
The Skeleton Key
~206~
2020vision
That is pathetic , after spending $10 billion all you can show is 4.3 % growth ???
RB and mwanawase archived over 6.3 % with out blowing 10 billion.
And now you are begging the IMF for a bailout ??
Zoonest, which ever country you are toiling in please don’t come back just stay there.
High inflation ,lower growth ,power rationing and mountains of debt is what you call “good” Mutati?
Lets compare your “good report’ to the splendid 6.4% growth and record forex reserves of Rupiah Banda’s golden era.
Correction: Mwanawasa’s Golden era which RB ended through his corrupt ways. RB messed up what Mwanawasa started and I fail to understand why people give him credit for what he did not do. That’s how robust Mwanawasa’s economy was. RB in his 3 years failed to dismantle it. We were left with no option in 2011 but to boot RB out but he has come back through PF with vengeance. That is why things are not working anymore. Where corruption is tolerated and the rule of law is not respected, it is wishful thinking to expect meaningful economic growth! Zambia needs in excess of 7% growth annually to grow!
Economist, RB had a very good economy going. Which corruption did he do. RB has not seen the inside of a prison like remandee HH. RB lost because of tribal politics by the UPND.
@Sitimela (or don’t swallow) try to separate objective reasoning from partisan reasoning. It is a fact that RB inherited a Robust economy from Mwanawasa. Granted, RB still had professionals running the economy then but he was a poor listener and it was his politics and failure to continue the corruption fight that sunk our economy to the point of being voted out. If RB was good for our economy, Zambians would not have voted him out!
Good for who?
Visit the grassroots and get real data.
When there is no money to chase any goods, of course you will achieve single digit inflation. Citizens are depleted now. Remember that a strong currency is also not good for exporters so don’t get too excited. Our economy will make more sense when forex influx is a result of trade and not just FDI. Capital flight is what you get with the Zambian version of FDI. They bring in one million dollars and take away billions. Our economy needs a serious broad based rethink in how we want to develop. The foreigners won’t develop Zambia. Zambians must begin to own their economy. The problem is government policy inconsistencies and involvement in enterprise. Government should have no business in business! It should not be government’s job to…
“The Minister says the appreciation of the kwacha in particular is reflection of increased supply of foreign exchange arising from participation of foreign portfolio investors in government securities.”……….
= MORE GOVERNMENT BORROWING!!!
How is this good for Zambia??????????????????????????
Especially this 100% repatriation of funds by foreign entities. The money is not being reinvested or part of the CSR.
This is where our colleagues in UPND have lost it! To them, anything good from patriotic and committed Zambians is a threat to their deem chances of ever being in power. To President Lungu and the PF, there is every reason to be smiling because with this economic momentum and projected positive out outlook, the benefits must start trickling down to all areas of development and the citizens will be impacted positively for a guaranteed 2021 victory. Let’s just focus, complete old and initiate new projects. Destructive elements must not pre-occupy our attention because they belong in jails. Keep it Mr. Mutati and support President Lungu and PF agenda. Zambia will be a force to recorn with in next four years.
announce floor prices. Fundamentals are misplaced at the moment!
In your ka house hold its good. Think of all the poor Zambian for once
I have noticed some UPND if not all are allergic to good news, always finding faults where none exists, if you can recall the mute button pressed on all of them during the time city market was burnt, it was shocking the power of silence they portrayed to a point of issuing out statements like, the market was only for PF and the marketeers don’t pay tax, even though these sentiments were all false you could tell the UPND had a reason to rejoice even though they didn’t publicly show it,here we have a different scenario of mutati explaining the current state of the nation and somehow UPND fail to celebrate the good news with the rest of the nation..is UPND allergic to Development..it’s true what mushota said the economy has drastically improved after some members got arrested.im…
UPND IS FULL OF TRIBALIST WHO THINK THAT ONLY HH CAN FIX SOMETHING THAT IS NOT BROKEN
If its true that the Zambian Economy is doing well why is Mutati insisting that Zambia needs an IMF Loan? Mutati wants to borrow $1.6 billion to finance the Balance of Payments and National Budget Support. Without IMF Loan, Multi Lateral funding, Donor Aid and Western Investments the Zambian Economy will collapse with dire consequences. Just wait and see!
Even the best of economies borrow to finance developmental projects and keep government running. It may be internal or external borrowing. Talk about prudent borrowing.
One wonders what kind of economics this bookkeeper has studied to conclude that the fundamentals of a moribund economy so deep in debt have improved during the first half of 2017! Of course if cooper prices increase amidst in a mono export based economy largely oriented towards consumption, the local currency will appreciate and only a fool will think this is good for the economy.
See the kaponya 2020vosion dancing at scant news about an economy that is $10 billion in debt……a 4.3 % growth is sad reading after spending $10 billion…RB archived 6.3 % growth without borrowing 10 billion.
$10 billion is nothing for an economy like ours now. The turnaround from infrastructure investment is not a quick cash type of investment. Yields will come.
Onenation
When will yields come when the roads are already crumbling ??
Anyway, I can though understand Mutati because the nearest thing example his people have to an economy is Katanga Wa Congolese-K, where there is none. It was just like listening to Chiluba bragging of how well the Zambian economy was doing, absolutely nonsense!
@1.5 Spaka like lilo – what did RB and Mwanawasa do compared to PF’s development all over the country?
Brick and mortar, and Bitumen is what some think constitute development. That is a deception. You can build all the buildings and roads you want but if that is done in a reckless way that bankrupts your country to the point of needing IMF bailouts, then someone does not understand what development is. In economics, we are told there are wants and needs. You can’t have everything you want but you need to set your priorities right to meet basic needs first! Ichalo Bantu! Ichalo tefikulwa! In Zambia, what is called infrastructure development is a vehicle for looting public resources. Why do we have so many unpaid contractors? Poor planning! Yes PF started doing the right things but in a completely wrong way! Kuyamba vintu timayamba bwino. Poor finishing ndiye ilenga!
They did not put the country in $10 billion debt .
They did not go back to the IMF begging…..
They did not spent $1 million / km for uneconomic roads….
With PF even after spending 10 billion in debt unemployment is at a all time high .
2.1 the Economist.
Eloquently put…..but even that is too comlicated for the kaponyas to understand.
As long as it is a building or a road it is development to them no matter what it’s costs.
This useless Accountant is patting himself on the back when he is runnning around looking for a bailout…he is putting lipstick and telling its some beautiful woman.
*..putting lipstick on a pig..
Mwanawasa’s tenure can now be referred to as the best!! If you look back opposition used to offer checks and balances not making Zambia un-governable. Today we have the biggest opposition which is allergic to any positive strides that the country makes. Mwanawasa’s time we didnt have any one burning houses of non lenje’s, burning markets and declaring mayhem.
We have some of Non patriotic Zambian that are hibernating in the diaspora using social media to disturb the our peace. Leave us alone and continue to work and make the foreign countries better and we will build our nation.
It is PF burning markets….and other places.
Some of us have investments in Zambia that seem to be erroding with Mr lungus assults on democracy….
Mutati sometimes speak in your mother tongue so that we may hear you. Not this nyenyenye economy. You don’t pay suppliers in time as government how many ritirees have you paid. Government houses are full of widows and retirees where ever you go, you economy this economy that. Pay suppliers and retirees then tell us about the economy not this English you speak swele swele for what.
Kikikiki … You have cracked my ribs!
We gave peace a chance while the bishops were mediating….but PF has intensified their assaults on democratic freedoms with lies about arrested, like 11 people for market fires, and lies about attempted arson attacks to justify their dictatorship.
We are now resuming petitions enmass around the world to highlight the erosion of democracy in Zambia and PF thuggery….. …
A prime example is the arrest of a Facebook user while kambwili was threatened with being hacked by senior pf in front of Mr lungu at a kangaroo court they held….
Kambwili was actually threatened with violence by being killed or maimed by senior PF officials in front of lungu…..mourners were attecked and assaulted at a UPND funeral and you arrest a Facebook user….
All this is in our petitions.
Keep laughing that petitions don’t work….
Mutati sometimes speak in your mother tongue so that we may hear you. Not this nyenyenye economy. You don’t pay suppliers in time as government how many retirees have you paid. Government houses are full of widows and retirees where ever you go, you economy this economy that. Pay suppliers and retirees then tell us about the economy not this English you speak swele swele for what.
If Kwacha has stabilized,why is the price of fuel not changing?I thought someone said the price of fuel will be dependent on stabilization of kwacha.Liars!!!Kwacha has stabilized but fuel prices are still constant.You should not cheat the nation with fake economical variables.
@2020vision
keep on dreaming and being delusional. Inflation in Zambia is not in single digits. This is a lie which has been created by PF-Foo-ls to hoodwink naïve and ignorant people like. The real inflation stands at 20.70% which is consistent with high borrowing rates of 35% to 60 %. The exchange is K8,500.00 to a dollar not K8.50 PF- Foo-L. You have the bumper harvest but P-F Foo-ls are buying a bag of 50kg at $6.76 or £4.51 and exporting at exorbitant prices. This is called stealing .So do you expect another bumper next year? In your dreams.
as the currency is strong, then it is better to lower the fuel price so that at least some impact will be felt by people.
Samuel Kanyon Doe, Moamor Gadhafy and Laurel Kabila laughed as their opponents died by torture or gunfire while others languished in jail. Well, they were not laughing when the guns were turned against them and they were blasted right into hell. Here in Zambia too, chickens shall indeed come back home, to roost on mwine Chipata’s kalukobo!
@1.2 Zoonest, sounds like on of the Professors n RSA from the same tribe as …