Lecturer scoffs at IMF bailout

DR LUBINDA Haabazoka, a Zambian economics lecturer, says Zambia should forget about an economic bailout package from the IMF, asserting that over a billion dollars is pocket money for the country. “Forget about the IMF! One point something billion dollars is pocket change to Zambia. We have the brains to move this country forward,” the Lusaka Times quoted Haabazoka as saying. Haabazoka, who is also the head of the University of Zambia’s Graduate Business School, made the comments following the country’s attempt over the last three years to secure a loan in the region of $1.3 billion (R18 billion), the Lusaka Times reported. Advising Zambians to be self-sufficient, the economics lecturer said that the country’s ordinary citizens were the policymakers and the civil servants, not the government. – African News Agency (ANA)