An International Monetary Fund team is expected in Zambia next week as part of consultations on the country’s debt levels, Secretary to the Treasury Fredson Yamba has said.
In February the IMF rejected Zambia’s borrowing plans, saying they risked making it harder for Zambia to sustain its debt load.
Zambia has since come up with a new debt plan it hopes will clear the way for the IMF to agree a $1.3 billion loan.
Zambia’s debt was sitting at $9.3 billion, roughly a third of its gross domestic product, at the end of March.
“We want to look at our debt figures. They submitted a number of questions, which we have responded to. We are just verifying how the numbers are seated,” Mr. Yamba told Journalists.
Mr. Yamba said the consultations would take place from July 23-28 and address Zambia’s debt, fiscal deficit and related issues though not its request for a new IMF aid program.
The global lender confirmed that it will send a technical team to Zambia from July 23 to 27 to collect data and update the macroeconomic framework.
It said in an emailed response to questions that it plans an article IV mission to Zambia in the September-October period that it and has no plans to take a proposed economic program for Zambia to its Board’s September meeting.
Zambia is shelving projects that are not almost complete and will renegotiate loans as it seeks to contain ballooning debt and entice the IMF to restart talks on a support package.
The IMF has warned the country is at high risk of debt distress, while investors have grown skeptical about the amount of external loans the country claims it has incurred, saying it may be significantly more than the $9.3 billion announced.
Just to be clear, the IMF is not coming to see whether it is feasible to lend Zambia money. They are coming to see how they can recover the money we already owe them.
When Lungu started borrowing, he was warned by everyone outside his corrupt government that this will cripple our country. What did Lungu do instead? He carried on borrowing. The money borrowed has since vanished, the only traces being the Mansions in Swaziland and Uganda. As well as the lavish life styles of Kaiser and cronies.
The money that PF has borrowed on your behalf can not be accounted for. It has been stolen.
And how anyone still supports these thieves is beyond me.
If any IMF people read this, please we beg you not to lend any money to these clowns. They are borrowing for their own benefits and leaving the rest of the poor citizens of the country to carry the burden of these debts. Even if IMF give us a bail out, all the money will go into the pockets of Lungu and his cabal.
Even if the entire treasury of the United States was given to PF to run a small country like Zambia, we would be poor again within just a few months. But obviously Lungu and friends would be richer than bill Gates.
We surely can create wealth and make money locally.
As a starting point all those that will load slag from the Black mountain must pay US$150 per 30 tonne truck load.
The locals are transporting the slag to the Chinese, so we know the dollar will come from China for the slag.
Simple calculation (Cobalt Metal not included)
Slag Copper Analysis is 1.12 % Total Copper
Concentrator / Flotation Recovery is 78 % TCu
Smelter Recovery is 95 % Copper with refineries giving another 95 %
Slag Volume on the Mountain is approximately 50,000,000 Tonnes
At copper price of US$7000
This translates into US$2.8 Billion.(0.0112*0.78*0.95*0.95*50,000,000*7000)
The Govt must get 150*50,000,000/30 = US$250 Million from this free for all venture.
Start now and stop moving with a borrowing Bowl.
I got 65% Cu recovery floating Luanshya smelter’s slag in November 1981. Black Mountain’s slag is of a higher grade. Cobalt abounds. It was the high cobalt which resulted in the construction of the Chambishi smelter.
Meanwhile half the ministers are in China begging and auctioning off the country’s assets!!
This upnd tribal cults interpret the article differently. We have read and understand it, but the tribal cults poke their nose wrongly.
UPND IS AFRAID THAT IF ZAMBIA MANAGES TO BORROW FROM IMF, THEN THERE WILL BE MORE INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT IN THE COUNTRY WHICH WILL MAKE IT EVEN MORE DIFFICULT FOR THE UPND TO PREVENT FURTHER DEFECTIONS OF THEIR FOLLOWERS TO PF.
IMF is a friend of Zambia and means well and will certainly support in Financing Zambia developmental programmes that support the SDGs They will be basically reviewing the Zambian ‘’Fiscal monitor 2018”,basically how Zambia is fairing in the revised IMF Global economic prospects or outlook (revised) 2018 ,Reviewing the country debt portfolios and economic prospects agreeing and confirming positions The external debt portfolios,Use of IMF credit if given, other non-debt resource inflows There will be projections an discussion and confirmation economic aggregates,reassessment o average terms of public and publicly guarantee red commitments Then the ratios as expected will be displayed…
be displayed and discussed (External debt stock to exports, to GNI ,Debt service to exports ,interest payments to exports to to GNI etc. Off course the CHINA offering of cheap debt that has may have no recourse to the National Aggregates will be reassessed in some cases in those sustainability analysis
“…CHINA offering of cheap debt…”
What are you, comedian or absolute !mbecile?
Its good that the IMF team itself is coming to zambia to see what is there on the ground otherwise they would have been hoodwinked if zambia had decided to send a team to Washington with false reports.