Kitwe District Agriculture Coordinator Raphael Muyaule says the new maize price set by government tarries with the prices in the region.

Speaking during a Heads of Government Departments meeting chaired by Kitwe District Commissioner Lawrence Mwanza, Dr. Muyaule said the price was fair if government intends to export later and to maintain the mealie-meal prices locally.

“If your look around, this is actually the same prices obtaining within the region and an increase further would mean that we will be subsidizing the region if we intend to export, we will be exporting at a lesser price than what we bought it at, this happened two years ago where government bought at a higher price and in trying to mitigate the market prices for mealie-meal government had to sell at a lower price so meaning government was subsidizing or incurring a loss,” He said.

He said if government buys maize at a high price the mealie-meal prices will in turn be high.

He however, noted that farmers still had the option to sell to other players other than the Food Reserve Agency.

He also noted that government might struggle to buy the targeted maize quantity for strategic reserves due to the low crop yield this year.

Last week government announced this year’s maize floor price which is at K160.

The development has drawn mixed feelings with majority of stakeholders saying it is too low when compared to the cost of growing maize.

Police in Lusaka have detained opposition Patriotic Front Member of the Central Committee Chishimba Kambwili  for expressing or showing hatred, ridicule or contempt against persons because of race, tribe or place of origin.

This is contrary to Section 70 Subsection one and two of Chapter 87 as read with Act Number two of 2021 of the Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act.

Zambia Police Deputy Public Relations Officer Danny Mwale says this happened between May 2021 and August 2021 on Radio Mano in Kasama District, Northern Province.

Mr Mwale  said Kambwili is detained at Kabwata Police Station awaiting advice from investigators on whether to take him to Kasama where the alleged offence was committed or not.

He said in the meantime, the opposition leader will remain detained at Kabwata Police Station.

Mwansabombwe District Commissioner Morton Sikazwe says Zamtel’s expansion programme in the country reaffirms the government’s commitment to taking service delivery closer to the people as possible.

Speaking during the official launch of a customer service centre in Mwansabombwe, Mr Sikazwe said the opening of the customer service centre is welcome as it is in line with the new dawn government’s vision of ensuring that the country moves forward.

“This is part of the over 100 centres that ZAMTEL intends to open,” he said adding that,” it will create over 1,500 direct and indirect jobs for the people across the country.”

And ZAMTEL Luapula province regional manager Jaison Ng’oma said the company is implementing a number of innovations and digital solutions and is positioning itself to be a digital dominant player in the digital space

Mr. Ng’oma said his company is targeting to open 250 new service centres which will result in an increase in the number of vendors who are making a living through selling Zamtel products and services.

“The service centre will address a number of challenges which local people have been experiencing in accessing such services like mobile money, sim card sales and replacements among others, “ he said.

With government’s support, the parastatal has heavily invested in network expansion and improvement making it the largest network provider in Zambia.

Meanwhile, area councilor Christine Ng’andwe also thanked Zamtel for the opening up of the service centre and appealed to the local people to make effective use of the services being provided.

THE DEBT RESTRUCTURING PROCESS AND THE IMF SUPPORTED PROGRAMME

Lusaka, Sunday, 19th June 2022 – In light of public statements by certain sections of society on the status of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Supported Programme and the debt restructuring process, the Ministry of Finance and National Planning considers it necessary to clarify on some matters of concern and on others that have been misrepresented.

The New Dawn Government reached a Staff Level Agreement (SLA) with the International Monetary Fund barely three (3) months after assuming office in August, 2021. This was on the backdrop of futile efforts previously pursued for more than five (5) years. The Government’s anticipation was for the IMF Supported Programme to be agreed upon by June 2022, however, there are some finalisation steps, mainly related to the debt restructuring process, that still need to be undertaken before the IMF Management and Board considers and approves the programme.

The consideration of Zambia’s application for an Extended Credit Facility by the IMF Board and the country’s debt restructuring process, are interrelated. Therefore, getting the IMF Board approval is centred on getting financing assurances from the Official Creditor Committee (OCC) under the G20 Common Framework for Debt Treatment. Their pace of progress, however, is not entirely dependent on the Zambian Government’s efforts. Notwithstanding, it is our expectation that with the due processes followed, we will get an IMF Supported Programme this year and place our debt on a sustainable trajectory, once again.

For the information of stakeholders, negotiations with our Creditors under the Common Framework are supported by an independent Debt Sustainability Analysis conducted by the IMF and the World Bank, accompanied by reforms, to ensure the future sustainability of public debt through an IMF Supported Programme (in Zambia’s case a 3-Year Extended Credit Facility). The whole process is systematic and entails substantial traction as we move towards the attainment of credible assurances on how the country’s debt will be treated by the Official Creditor Committee before the IMF staff submit Zambia’s case to the IMF Management and the Board for consideration.

Some key milestones are as follows:

1. Finalisation of the Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA) with the IMF and the World Bank. This has been done;
2. Pledges by multilateral lenders to provide concessional financing to Zambia as part of the effort to resolve the country’s financing limitations based on the DSA results;
3.  Convening the OCC (mainly bilateral related lenders) to discuss Zambia’s request for debt relief under the G20 Common Framework for Debt Treatment. This action has commenced; and,
4. Convening, immediately after the OCC, a committee of Commercial Lenders (Eurobonds, Commercial Banks, and Private Lenders etc). This is pending completion of discussions by the OCC.

Pursuant to some of the milestones listed above, the Government has regularly engaged both Official Creditors and Private Creditors. They have been provided with economic policy and debt data, with a view to facilitating decision-making and successive meetings of the two creditor groups.
High-level bilateral discussions have been held, too. One such engagement was the virtual summit meeting between Mr. XI JIPING, the President of the Peoples Republic of China (Zambia’s biggest bilateral creditor and the world’s second-biggest economy) and Mr. HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, the President of the Republic of Zambia (Currently one of Africa’s best investments destinations). The engagements resulted in the first successful meeting of the OCC on Thursday 16th June 2022, under the auspices of the Paris Club and the G20. The meeting with private creditors will follow through after a consensus is reached by Official Creditors.

The Government has been engaging multilateral partners for concessional financing as part of the effort to resolve Zambia’s fiscal limitations. As announced before, the engagements have culminated in several benefits such as the pledge by the World Bank to support the national budget through a Development Policy Operation. As soon as the IMF Supported Programme is approved by the IMF Board, it is envisaged that the World Bank will supply funding amounting to US$275 million over the next three (3) years.

Furthermore, the Bank is providing sizeable positive net flows to Zambia. Under IDA19, the Bank is committing approximately $959 million to support Zambia’s recovery from the multiple debt and economic crises and help to institute reforms for inclusive growth and poverty reduction. Of this, U$$294 million has already been committed for scaling up social cash transfers and projects to strengthen the COVID-19 response, including vaccination and emergency health financing to improve service delivery.

The remaining U$$665 million will be presented in three operations to the World Bank Board for approval within June 2022. The program includes two results-based operations, the first to reinvigorate growth in agriculture and support reform of the agricultural subsidy regime and the second to strengthen decentralized public service delivery while enhancing public financial management, accountability, and citizen engagement and will support the increased resource allocation towards Constituency Development Fund. The third operation will finance additional social protection spending in response to various shocks.

Furthermore, upon agreement of the Country Assistance Strategy during the second half of 2022, financing is also expected from the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) over the next 3 years. This implies that over the medium-term, an estimated US$500 million or more will be available to Zambia (through the Africa Development Fund), for economic and social development. This is another demonstration of a functional and cordial relationship between Zambia and her multilateral partners.

Going forward, the Government will continue to work tirelessly toward returning the country to a state of fiscal stability that will facilitate sustainable growth. Through the soon-to-be-launched Eighth National Development Plan (8NDP), the Public-Private Dialogue Forum and other development delivery frameworks, the New Dawn Administration will continue to make sincere efforts targeted at trending the living conditions of our fellow citizens towards equal opportunities, sustained prosperity and poverty reduction, on the platform of a stabilized and transformed economy that inspires improved investor confidence, facilitates more local and foreign investments, creates more opportunities and jobs, and nurtures the economic freedom of the people of Zambia.

Issued by:
(Original Signed)
MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND NATIONAL PLANNING