By: Anthony Bwalya – UPND Member.
On the issue of stimulating the economy through the COVID19 period, the United Party for National Development (UPND) and Mr. Hakainde Hichilema were unequivocally clear about what we needed to do:
1. Government suspend its unquenchable appetite for wasteful, non product public spending….and
2. Use the public debt service relief provided by both multilateral and bilateral partners to achieve and deliver the following business environment incentives:
a) Suspend VAT and PAYE for businesses for a minimum 6 months period, with the option of extending the relief period to 1 year. After all, government has been able to give prolonged tax concessions to multinationals spanning close to 20 years.
b) Accelerate power imports to mitigate the effects of prolonged loadshedding on SMEs
c) Reduce or suspend certain consumption taxes on fuel to lower the pump price for at least 6 months, with an option to extend.
The UPND had further proposed that government expands access to emergency financing for businesses by doing the following:
a) Government reduced the statutory reserve requirement for commercial banks from the current 9% to perhaps 6% or 7%…..and further
b) Reduce the monetary policy rate to around 9% – something the Bank of Zambia actually delivered.
The UPND were affirmative in our belief, that these measures could have gone a long way towards aiding our ailing economy through this incredibly difficult time; and Denny Kalyalya would not have lost his job.
BUT, President Edgar Lungu and the Patriotic Front (PF), in their predictable nonsensical fashion, announced a K10bn or around $560m of a “stimulus” package to help SMEs through the tumultuous COVID19 times.
This was K10bn which was meant to be printed by BoZ and given out to PF operatives in the name of “suppliers'” payments, effectively bankrolling the Patriotic Front political establishment. Remember, all major government supply contracts are currently held by PF cadres and their mafia friends in the private sector.
But since the announcement was made, and up to date, only K1bn or 10% of this stimulus package is said to have been “disbursed.”
It is infact for this very reason that the former Bank of Zambia governor – Denny Kalyalya was fired.
The question no one is asking is this: where was Denny and BoZ going to get K10bn to disburse to facilitate this “stimulus” package?
The problem with the PF and its entire leadership is that they are used and addicted to money that just materialises out of nothing. The kind of easy money where they have never had to lift a finger to generate, proceeds of criminal wrongdoing anchored on zero productivity.
The PF regime actually think that BoZ should be printing money to support their reckless exuberance around public spending.
Here is what Christopher Nvunga will have to do: either print the money the PF are after or break all central banking regulations and bring those foreign reserves to much less than $1bn.
Kalyalya did all he could. The PF were even lucky to get the K1bn of printed cash otherwise no central bank governor, especially not in an economy the size of Zambia with zero productivity, should ever have to print money for political reasons.
Anthony, you are spot on; i can’t add anything! The Maria’s are having a field day without shame. Lungu is reckless jackal and so is his entire PF team. The docility of Zambians is costing our nation dearly.
” The kind of easy money where they have never had to lift a finger to generate, proceeds of criminal wrongdoing anchored on zero productivity . “
UPND
Just leave these lawless gang lead by lungu to continue destroying the country…..there will come a time when even those police military equipment ordered by lungu will not work.
Just encourage your members to wear green and go and chew that money….
“The kind of easy money where they have never had to lift a finger to generate, proceeds of criminal wrongdoing anchored on zero productivity.”
Anthony Bwalya !! Let them Bantustan party win then you’ll know their agenda about how to treat Bembas
Go and ask your mother. Why don’t you ask your HH. He seems to have all the answers and yet it always amounts to losing elections. We know that DK and HH are close as they are related. Nomba you hanthony habwalya what have you got to gain. I understand they are paying you to be a child boy but please remember that at the end of day you are a nobody to them and they will leave you to hang dry once used.
I have always loved Zambia political parties when they are STUCK in prolonged opposition. They have opinions & solutions. Chiluba told the people that the country had a manageable population & he would fix the economy & create jobs. When he got power, he killed even the jobs kk left. Others said more money in your pockets. They meant their own. Now we hear forward & tax relief & reducing petrol price. And we see them annoyed when a Tonga is fired from government when they celebrated the firing of Kambwili & many others. To them only Tongas can run Zambia. Tongas have never votes for a non Tonga since Chiluba because there was no Tonga option
money doesn’t materialise out of nothing.
I really hope this is not UPND stance. The proposals are simply put – reduce taxes , suspend PAYE &VAT. Somehow spend more in increased subsidies and increased power imports to be sold cheaply. Wow these guys are gonna be miracle workers
Bombwe, leave the Tongas alone. Tongas will not raise the money for the K 10 billion COVID relief fund. You are one of those people who runs under cover of tribalism to maintain political power. Who has given you the mandate to tell Tongas how and who to vote for? In a normal electoral democracy, a vote is a personal and secret vote. Do you know the population of Tongas in Zambia? So how many Tongas have you consulted to declare that Tongas will only vote for a Tonga? Why dont you also assess who the other tribes would vote for? Stop irritating innocent people!!
The brainless and blind PF cadres think Danny Kalyalya would just say “abracadabra ” and the K10 billion would appear. That fact is the PF want BOZ to print more money. But this will be detrimental of the Zambian economy.
That is why the South African Finance Minister Tito Mboweni got upset. Because the last thing he wants is an influx of more economic migrants from Zambia to South Africa after our economy collapses.
@Independent they got no idea why that south African was crying for our economy, they alredy have economic refugees from congo and zim, am sure they don’t want more economic backpackers in their backyards.
Zambia has 73 tribes but why only two tribes fight?.give us a break. Here we’re talking about these clueless politicians
From the article above, it looks like the UPND was telling Dr Denny Kalyalya what to do. Anthony Bwalya writes that “The UPND had further proposed that government expands access to emergency financing for businesses by doing the following: …b) Reduce the monetary policy rate to around 9% – something the Bank of Zambia actually delivered.” Anthony seems to be telling all and sundry that UPND was externally influencing BOZ by telling Dr. Kalyalya what do do. He seems to suggest to the readership that the reduction in monetary policy by BOZ was UPND’s doing. One just wonders what the highly qualified economists at BOZ (mostly with MAs and PhDs and more qualified than HH) himself do.
Quite embarrassing to have Edgar Lungu and PF government.
These are thieves in government.
PF must go!
Kalyalya was fired because he has FAILED TO to contain INFLATION PERIOD
Get the PF chitenges and K 50 but VOTE WISELY, it’s your money after all.
@ ZAMBIA
How can you contain inflation when you have a debt of $19 billion , 50% of your budget expenditure goes to debt servicing and 40% goes government emoluments?
How much of tax payers money is left to manage the economy?
Please you PF chaps should keep your ignorance to yourselves.
I suspect eing brain dead and dancing to every foolish policy directive is a key competence if one has to keep his job under this dununa reverse regime!!
Road to Zimbabwe status for Zambia firmly on course without a shed of doubt. Very sad. Have you all seen that choosing leaders must be a serious exercise with one applying himself or herself fully in scrutinizing intellect and capacity.
John Okello the New Governor of BOZ is on Mission to print the K10 Billion to satisfy the wishes of ECL. This however is highly inflationary so prices of goods and services will rise sharply and the Kwacha will quickly depreciate to the detriment of the Economy. Tito Mboweni will be vindicated by August 2021.The writing is on the wall.
The new governor of bank of Zambia is not a qualified economist. He can not not help the government to steer the country in the right direction economically.
ECL wanted Kalyalya to print money and Kalyalya refused. That is the main reason Kalyalya was fired. Refusal to drive the country to Zimbabwean standards.
You cannot disburse what you don’t have. The government has been forcing the Bank of Zambia to lend it money that it hasn’t made. Remember the recent K800 million bond? That is quantitative easing – printing or creating digital money. If you don’t produce or manufacture, you cannot sustain that
This is proper Idi Amin style – firing a bank governor who tried to argue against printing money (apparently got him executed) He immediately appointed a scared ‘yes bwana’ in his place.
Economy is in free fall.brace yourselves for a hard landing..thanks to dununa reverse.