Commenting on the announcement by government that a Turkish firm is interested in refinancing the 750 million dollars Euro Bond, YALI President Andrew Ntewewe said those opposed to the idea of refinancing should be heard by government and ensure that other ideas are taken on board but that criticising without solutions would not help the country in any way.
Mr Ntewewe said the issues raised by stakeholders about how the Euro Bond was spent though credible were water under the bridge and that what the nation should be discussing and focusing on is how to deal with the Bond because even if it is the PF who acquired it, the issue remains a national issue which will be inherited by whoever forms government next.
“However; we want to also think that those that are opposed to the euro bond in a democracy they must be heard and they must be able to provide alternatives, for instance if PAC or any other political party was to be in office how would they have done it?
“The very coming of armchair critics which we are seeing is irresponsible opposition! What a responsible opposition must be able to do is advise on alternatives in terms of how to move forward.
“We therefore call on all stakeholders that instead of criticising government and being armchair critics can you provide solutions and alternatives for the government to make a proper decision,” he said.
He said government was under obligations to pay the Euro Bond.
“As the Young African Leaders Initiative we have critically analysed the proposition by government and desire to refinance the first Euro Bond of 750 million US Dollars with a Turkish Firm. We want to believe first and foremost from our analysis that the Euro Bond is here, it was gotten by the Zambian government and the state is obligated to ensure that payment is done.
“Any political party that will be in government it doesn’t matter whether it will be the NDC, PAC, UPND, MNT or MMD, or any other political party that would form government they will find that there is a bond of 750 million dollars which has to be paid to these investors,” he said.
He observed that refinancing was the best alternative as it comes with benefits.
“For now, it is inconsequential how the bond was collected or how it was utilised, much as the merits and demerits can still be debated in terms of the utilisation, we believe that it is water under the bridge.What must be looked at today is how do we then deal with this bond. What are the best alternatives of paying it off?
“Government believes the best alternative is to refinance and our understanding is that refinancing will come with it a lot of benefits; the payment terms are going to be flexible, interest rates is going to be lower and it will be paid on a long-term basis. That is very important because it will allow the government to spend resources on the key social sectors of the economy which are health, agriculture and education. So we want to believe that the proposal makes a lot of sense,” he said.
Kayipushe banok0
The only opposition opposed to refinancing is the UPND, the rest are pro-PF and support whatever shi..t the PF comes up with. So you can as well remove the word ‘opposition’ and replace it with ‘UPND’. Free reminder, UPND is not in govt and therefore do not drag it into solving your self-imposed problems. Besides, when it offered alternatives and opposed contracting the bond, all of you rubbished and said it was bitter.
Ntewewe the PF vuvuvela
“The very coming of armchair critics which we are seeing is irresponsible opposition! What a responsible opposition must be able to do is advise on alternatives in terms of how to move forward.”
When the responsible opposition was advising against irresponsible borrowing, YOU were the FIRST pseudo-educated !MBECILE to support PF idiocy.
Now, Mr. Big Mouth-Pea Size Brain, give yourself pat on the back and shut your effing crapping 5hit-hole.
Facts, you have got it all wrong because the UPND never and will never give alternatives but just being armchair critics. All they did when the Euro Bond issue came about was to criticise and no alternative was offered from UPND.
@ !mbecile above
Did I mention UPND you brain washed and demented wanker?
You are a Big Liar
Its now clear that for future the minister of Finance should consider methods of Sovereign Debt
Restructuring Mechanism whether those a statutory process mechanism is not much more needed than Now because there are costs to refinancing through a turkish firm You see performance of bonds (sovereign) in prices and rates reflects the performance of each country economy (spreads added to bps reflecting the risks of that firm facilitating ) and globally tend to move together reflecting wider risks currencies and other including FDIs and reserve positions growth prospects etc Lok at say 10 year US treasuries over a 10 year now and see the turkis effectiveness
Imwe Ba Ntewewe emulate your colleague Isaac Mwanza’s objectivity. Do not make wild generalizations when making such serious policy statements. Green Party President Peter sinkamba has on several occassions provided alternatives to the Eurobond repayments. In fact last month, he had a meeting with Finance Minister Margret Mwanakatwe to discuss alternatives to outright pay off eurobond. He is reported on here LT to have told the minister that he wants her to succeed and that refinancing is not an option. He suggested measures for outright liquidation of the loan. Once again, refrain from petty generalization. Be objective.
If Eurobond money was deliberately misappropriated, it can’t be just water under the bridge. Let there be audits of how that money was used so that we know who stole the money. After all the thieves are arrested and prosecuted, then we can start looking for solutions so that when we get moneys from other sources, no one will dare steal it because they will have some lessons from their jailed colleagues. This is why no credible lender wants to give us money. There has to be accountability. You can’t have people who stole Eurobond money continue running the show without holding them accountable. You see, the problem is that you will likely default again if you don’t change the way you do business. It can’t always be business as usual.
@Mulenga , indeed that is the root of the problem. Misappropriation and mismanagement. And to say its water under the bridge , then how are we going to learn anything. Very dull.
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