Government has been challenged to explain to the nation why it has opted to resale the US$ 750 million Eurobond four years ahead of its maturity.
Former Finance Minister Ng’andu Magande has said that he finds it very difficult to understand why government does not want to wait until the Eurobond matures in the year 2022 before selling it.
Mr. Magande said that the impression he is getting from this hurried decision, is that government has already projected that the US$ 750 million Eurobond is giving Zambia problems.
In an interview with QTV News by telephone Mr. Magande also wondered whether it was the Zambian government that was interested in selling the debt or the Turkish company that was interested in buying it.
Mr. Magande, who was Finance Minister under the Patrick Mwanawasa MMD government, noted that if it was government that was interested, Zambians should know how the said Turkish company was selected, especially that there are many private equities who deal in the financial market all over the world.
Mr. Magande stated that government should also tell the nation whether or not conditions the Turkish private equity is offering are favorable than what it is paying in interest rates towards the Eurobond.
Mr. Magande further said that Zambian citizens further want to know whether or not conditions the Turkish company is offering are better than International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan conditions.
WHAT OF YOUR PARTY SIR ? IT SEEMS YOU ARE SLOWLY GOING TO BE WITH UR FELLOW TRIBESMAN HH, GOODLUCK
Very impaired thinking from ANYOKO or whatever his name is. This man has raised very valid points and we are yet to see a Finance Minister better than him so far. How do we expect the country to develop like this????
Ignore this man. He is RETIRED and has no say on this working Government.
I dont understand him and I have a PhD
Thanks
BB2014,2016
That is the problem with kandiles like anyoko they think everyone must be in a party ne fya mano fyonse ku chita dismiss.
Those are questions that need to be asked, the problem with ECL,s goverment is that they think the countries resources are theirs (PF) and their decisions are fool proof.
“””Government will endeavor to be accountable to its citizens -President Lungu “”” 🙂
If ECL was serious, I look forward to a fair response to questions raised by Magande. These are questions coming from a former finance minister, who is echoing Zambian Citizens who have been asking similar questions.
It’s time to walk the talk. Kaili ka press conference apa, to inform the nation and answer questions.
THE MAN WITH DIFFERENT DEFINITIONS OF POVERTY SPEAKS OUT FINALLY. SITTING THERE IN A ” I DON’T WANNA BE DISTURBED KIND’A FASHION. TRY’NA SOUND RELEVANT AND KNOWLEDGEABLE.
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I wonder why the cream cannot get the jobs they yearn for.
I don’t know but I just miss this dude. I like the fact that he has managed to stay at arms length from’a politics. I don’t wanna sound kind’a saying he is a coward genius. Buddha I can’t take it away from him, I curse RB for dribbling him. But it’s games politician’s play. I wanna know the answer to ya question too. Maybe your question has some substance, maybe you gotta an option. Dude Michael celebrated that Eurobond thing thing. All I know is ZRL is still a mess n’ why wouldn’t it be, when businessmen n’…
… politicians own trucks. Never seen a prosperous country without rail. God have mercy.
For anyone curious about Turkey’s current economic circumstances, reach for any recent edition of The Economist magazine and look at tables of economic indicators of various countries at the back. Ten-year government of Turkey bonds attract a whooping 17.62% interest rate and it is the highest for any country whose statistics are carried every week by the magazine. I am looking at the 21-27 July edition of the periodical. This tells you something about the state of public finances in Turkey. And yet for Zambia , that is the go-to country in times of threatening financial distress. Holders of Zambia’s Eurobonds will read this as a sign of panic.
Magande, Sonta!
The reason I can think of with your mentioned sense of urgency by the Zedian Govt to refinance the Eurobond to cover-up all the corrupt practices by senior officials in the Government.
Good questions posed to the PF government … Please PF cadres on this forum restrain from bringing discussions that bring in opposition these are genuine concerns …. Can u manage that?
Because their personal wells are running dry and now the kaloba owners are on their backs to pay it back. However, as the UPND predicted the PF chimbwis borrowed without having a plan for income generation to service their debts. It always happens when some one is spending money they have not worked for.A thief does not budget or think of the future. His concerns are his immediate gains because he knows that stolen goods do not last life long. Ask the MMD chaps. This is why lungu and his cronies are strongly against any change to the constitution. The level of corruption in zambia has reached alarming rates such that it even takes the world bank to release a report on your theft. Mwasebanya zambia mwembuuwa mwe. lungu afe chabe
“I WAS CHEATED, USED AND DUMPED BY HH” says Daniel Munkombwe. I had a lot of respect for this man now after looking at his shallow questions I have lost it all. Mr Magande should know better since he was the finance minister that a debt is structured as a hedge against unforeseen occurrences and to provide some financial relief to the borrower , in this case the PF government ,and that the government is actually putting in place a forward looking plan as a financial cushion. Better now to do so than in 2022 when this liability is going to mature or else it may be too late then. Ronald Penza to me stands out as the best finance manager Zambia has ever produced not this opportunist Magande.
Penza was the biggest thief Zambia has ever had. Look at the wealth he accumulated during the few years he was the minister of finance.
@Wise One, yes that very true and that’s why hw got wacked for being greedy in his criminal circle.
Dead Right!!!! People in Zambia have short memories:
Ronald PENZA is the best Finance Minister Zambia has ever produced.
He managed navigate when economic conditions were at its worst in Zambia
He managed SDP, SDF, only remained with completion point.
Magande asangile Mango naipya kale.
Equally the Best President was Frederick Chiluba. Mwanawasa sangile all difficult things had already been handled by Chiluba,
Zambians don’t mind getting their money stolen. Here is a finance minister who left govt without scandal and he is being compared with common criminals. Penza died violently because of his corruption and greed. Penza caused govt to lose money in his ill-fated decision to keep a bankrupt bank Meridien BIAO open longer than it needed to stay in business. Titus Banda it is you with a short memory.
Magande has asked very simple but vital questions, just give us the answers instead of trying to make him look like a villain. PF always find it difficult to answer serious questions. This only happens when you are trying to hide something.
@mushota
I admire your PHD in tosh.
Excellent Questions Mr Magande and to the Tee . Let EL and Magraret Mwanakatwe explain herself as they think that they are the experts that’s why she was fired from her Post abroad a failure and EL’s new puppet?
Please please ba PF just swallow your pride and let this man come and help you to solve this problem before we become like Zimbabwe because the problems coming will not only affect the opposition but even the PF.
UPND is a trash-talking and a trash-organization! It is a tribal gathering of the tribals.
Razor, you are clearly dont know what you are talking about….we passed the Zimbabwe stage in 1991!
The problem we have in Zambia is that most of the so called Educated i.diots are just SCHOOLED NOT LEARNED. The man has raised very imported questions and you are busy bringing politics,tribe etc. He has manged the ministry of finance before and knows what he is talking about. Imwe fyonse nibu cadre ba koswe imwe…. Surely you can not manage OUR resources in this manner.
Maybe we have better brainers than him. Maybe he is a coward TRYNA sound smart. I don’t have an attitude towards him. Maybe he should have hunged around and worked with RB. Maybe he is selfish too. But he Magande is magande. Just watching from the terraces. I hate smart kids living on the sidelines like a super sub in a formality game. Quite useless. To smart to be exposing his soul to insulting political delinquents like many bloggers on this podium. But he too had a tough time in his time. It is the dynamics of life and times.
Thank you Magande. We should be probing who has been bribed by the Turks and the president shouldn’t be put out of our sight.
Bauze ba mwibila nsala ba pompwe who have ruined everything you tirelessly laboured to build with LPM MHSRIP! It would be suicide for Zambia to start playing dirty games with quick fixes to debt crisis issues. With the right brains, we can manage to pay all Eurobonds in a record time!
The whole international monetary system is rigged against Africa. The IMF and World Bank give you tough borrowing and repayment conditions. In desperation, because you want to tar a few km of roads in 90 days, you run for the Eurobond into which the same IMF and World bank have secretly invested their money. A few years down the line, you realize you can’t pay, they entice you again with buying off the loan. These are the same guys loaning you the money in different forms under different names. here did Turkey suddenly get a billion dollars to loan to an African country when their own economy is chocking? It will take the sharpest of brains to help Africa get out of this debt trap. After HIPC everyone in Zambia thought we made it, where? There isn’t a way anyone gives up or forgives…
Don’t cheat yourself and others.
The problem with Africa is more to do with your docility and “worshiping” of dictators and corruption.
What are you doing in Zambia, even a lot of SUSPECTED corruption cases have been raised? Instead of you demanding and holding the government accountable, instead of the respective branches like ACC to investigate, you start asking people to provide evidence, and you call that a fight against corruption?
The problem is with us Africans, don’t blame IMF. Days are gone when you used to blame IMF and World Bank. The sharpest people that you are dreaming about are over the world contributing to the other economies.
@Wise One, Continuing to blame the West for your own problems is really “Low”. Did they force the EuroBond on you? Did they mismanage the Eurobond for you? Did the build your “poor quality” roads for $1million per KM for you? did they buy “second-hand” firetenders for $1 Million for you? Are they buying luxury properties for youe ministers abroad for you? Please look at yourselves “first” before you blame others. If they are taking advantage of you then you’re DUMB. Blame yourselves. Next will be China reaping you off and all you will do is sit back and complain like “Babies”
The blind lead the deaf who are all drunk!!
Chief Animo Farm with Mapatizya formula.
Mr Magande should consult President Hichilema. President HH articulated the issue of refinancing the debt exceedingly eloquent the in his very recent interview on radio phoenix let the people talk program.
I’m almost sure the PF government being a listening government captured, validated and are now implementating the lesson as articulated by President HH ( the patriot).
PF has mismanaged the economy & GRZ finances like no other party before.Gone are $1.5bn reserves, 6% growth and low indebtedness with high BB ratings.Rupiah Banda’s govt was far better on this.
Your untimely election after election have wired you to the core. What good can a copper dependant economy you don’t control do you? RB stole and dribbled your celebrated alarmist economist posing the very question you are defending right now. But like I am saying I still have respect for one Magande and like every concerned citizen, he has the right question government action. Get over the RB’s “far much better” forex banking with a dysfunctional road network. Pray that you don’t go for another extraordinary bye election. Pray for ECL that he pulls through his upcoming 2021 – 2026 tenure. Be with me here.
“They mismanaged” yet they keep on winning and beating the crap out of the tribal gathering! You ha right.
,Wise one, you are an ignorant twit, Ronald Penza was not your Nyoko. Penza died a very poor man only with a farm he bought for his family in Mbala. Up to now the family has never closed the chapter of what took his life.
Ronald detested single sourcing which appears the preoccupation of our PF Government today.
Magande is right. Why are we always in a hurry to single source. There are many cheaper financing sources out there most of which come with conditions because financiers have clear data of your corruption and financial misuse.
Government is better off negotiating with IMF and World Bank. These two institutions provide the cheapest source of finance in the World today..
@kapoko Penza was a crook who got very greedy and begun financing the export of arms to Savimbi’s UNITA. The Angolan govt sent out a crack unit to eliminate him. FTJ knew about those activities as BY was also involved and deliberately washed his hands, they also attempted to clear BY (then Min of Defence) but failed to penetrate his security thanks to 1 Commando the best in Africa!
Just a correction Mr Magande: “Mr. Magande further said that ZAMBIAN CITIZENS WANT TO KNOW whether or not conditions the Turkish company is offering are better than International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan conditions”…..
Those are your questions honourable Magande, not Zambians, but you are free to ask your questions, we read and listen just like in any debate. BUT PLEASE, you are a Zambian NOT Zambians.
Genius!
Ba UPND cadre, he is speaking in his capacity as a man who has an insight of what happens at that level having represented the country in various capacities. Were all Zambians Finance Ministers at one time for them to raise such complex questions? Do you expect some illiterates to raise such questions? Don’t you know that any position you hold in society is a blessing to all citizens if you are not a selfish person?
Here is what I have observed on this forum: Some people who comment here were probably not born when people like Magande were serving the Nation or if they were, they were too young to know what was happening. Please if you were not born then, shut up and let those who were there comment.
I, also, as a Zambian didn’t want to know! Maybe HH and Larry Mweetwa wanted to know! Just say so Honourable Magande, Sir.
How come all of you sound so intelligent on this forum, yet when you look around the country there is nothing to show for it. Zambia needs a smart dictator like Kagame, kholwe you talk too much at the expense of development.
Am not sure that if you die and leave your very able bodied children and spouse a farm then you have died poor??? Anyway why would one want to call on an issued securitized bond before time? Come now Peter that is basic economics. Should the sole reason be the inability to settle when its call on? I don’t think so and it is okay to try and be an alarmist more so if you once had political presidential ambitions. The problematic 3rd bond was issued against all advise and now the architect has resuscitated in form of a mayor…but we have not forgotten his role in bringing us to our knees in debt.
#18.2 IT IS WRITTEN, but that is exactly what I am saying, that he is speaking as Magande, one citizen, he is NOT speaking as Zambians. How many NRCs does he have?
Please go meet the minister and am sure she will give you answers. The Finance minister will be in a good position to answer you straight forward unlike here where only insults are order of the day. Am sure you make sense meeting her.
Is this guy a UPND member?
He looks like the other faces LT loves to show. I may be wrong.
Magande pakanwa pamonekafye nsele nsele
A refinance is normal when you can get it done at a lower interest rate. Why would you wait and continue paying high interest rates if you can lower your borrowing cost? Because Turkey’s economy is trending downwards, an investor would seek a safe haven – flight to quality or they simply see it as an opportunity to diversify internationally. Whether the proceeds of the Euro bond were used for consumption or capital investment, is irrelevant to a refinancing strategy; which simply seeks to reduce the borrowing cost.
Refinancing does not necessarily mean it will be at a low interest rate. That’s a misconception if you only look at it one side. It could also mean refinancing at higher interest rates but over extended repayment periods, allowing you to pay lower premiums.
I do support the questions paused. As tax payers and citizens we have every right to ask our leaders difficult questions and we deserve answers. Don’t accept everything they say or do as gospel truth irrespective of your political affiliation. Western countries did not get where they are by seating back and enjoying a jolly ride. You may never know when your driver doses off and plunges everyone into a river and never to be recovered.
“Mangande was a Finance Minister under Patrick Mwanawasa,” according the Harticle. That hexplains heverything!
Idle minds busy debating on who was the best finance minister instead of looking at how we solve the many challenges
27 You are explaining a re-arrangement which typically occurs when default is being faced. When the loan tenor is increased, the cost of borrowing goes up. The issue of polical affiliation is unfortunately irrelevant to financing strategies.
But we don’t know if a default is coming, do we? Because of this rush, we can only speculate something is happening behind the scenes that doesn’t look good from the perspectives of what has been borrowed and what needs to be paid. In the best interest of openness and transparency, it’s important for us to know what’s going on. Admitting when something is not going right and bringing the best minds to resolve any issues is better than pretending all is good when it’s not. Yes, people will talk and insult when you admit to the truth. But, long term you will earn their respect.
The Finance Minister who gloated middle income country while civil servants and university lecturers salaries were penury but he maintained a budget surplus and poverty levels were well over 80%.
Now its the opposite and we are DANCING on gleaming roads, spending at malls and less than 40% of Zambians are classically poor!. Slit your throat with envy Magande.