STATE NOT LYING ON DEBT – PMRC
IT is not true that Zambia has been hiding part of its debt as is being alleged in some circles around the country, Policy Monitoring and Research Centre (PMRC), executive director Benedette Deka has clarified.
Ms Deka said this when she featured on BBC Radio 98.1 alongside activist Laura Miti.
She said according to recent exercise in reconciling and updating, debt stock as at December 2017 stood at external debt at US$8.7 billion, Domestic debt at K48.4 billion and Domestic arrears stood at K12.7 billion.
Ms Deka said assertions are not founded on fact but mere assumptions. “The 2017 Annual Economic Performance Report has been published and is in public domain. It can be accessed on the Ministry of Finance website and data portal. This report contains creditor by creditor numbers and members of the public or any creditor who feels that the debt stock has been underreported can verified and audited information to the Ministry of Finance”, she stated.
And responding to Laura Miti’s assertion that there was more debt than was being reported and that projects were being financed by unsustainable loans, Ms Deka called for researched arguments as opposed to mere speculation.
“We appeal to stakeholders to resist the temptation of transforming their feelings and perceptions into verified, unaudited and speculative information which has the devastating effect of eroding confidence in the economy,” she mentioned.
Ms Deka also clarified that contrary to suggestions that International Monetary Fund (IMF) had requested government to carry out an independent audit of its debt, she said the ministry of Finance had informed the nation earlier that no such request had been made and challenged those making such assertions to avail the public of any correspondence to that effect.
“No such request has been made from what we know and this has been confirmed by the line ministry. What we know for a fact is that they have conducted the annual debt sustainability analysis with credible international partners including IMF, World Bank and the Macroeconomic and Financial Management Institute (MEFMI) of Eastern and Southern Africa, among others. “PMRC has followed these interactions with keen interest and is aware that the last debt sustainability analysis (DSA) was conducted with full participation by IMF and published in August 2017 and the 2018 DSA is being finalised”.