Apply more austerity - Hamaundu

BY MUKOSELA KASALWE

GOVERNMENT should implement more austerity measures and prudent fiscal discipline to prove to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that it is up to the task to acquire the bailout plan, says economist and financial market analyst Maambo Hamaundu.

Mr Hamaundu said a team that will be tasked to lobby and campaign for the IMF bailout plan should be honest, candid and open about Zambia’s debt portfolio by clarifying innuendos which had been making rounds on social media and other platforms.

He said in an interview yesterday that the pronouncements by Finance Minister Margaret Mwanakatwe on both austerity measures and the implementation of infrastructure projects should be adhered to.

Attaining the IMF bailout plan would be good for the country’s economy and investment prospects, he said.

“Zambia securing the International Monetary Fund bailout will be good for us as a nation in terms of the economy and investment prospects,” he said.

Mr Hamaundu said some infrastructure projects below 90 percent were going on in light of pronouncements made, adding that such complacency in implementing robust measures would show as if Zambia was not ready for the bailout plan.

In an interview last month with Bloomberg in Cape Town, Ms Mwanakatwe said she was in talks with the IMF about securing a financial package Mr Hamaundu and had taken the necessary steps to ensure that Zambia qualified for support.

“I would want to see a programme with the IMF, I think it would be good for us.

I would love to see something in place by the end of the year. That is why we put in place various measures to ensure that we have a way forward that is sustainable debt-wise,” she said.

Since 2016, Zambia’s efforts to secure a $1.3 billion loan from the Washington-based lender have been stalled by concerns over its borrowing plans.

Zambian treasuries remain the highest in emerging markets among countries that are not in default.

IMF officials visited Zambia last November and were due to return this month for three weeks, where the package would be on the agenda, Ms Mwanakatwe said.

She ruled out any possibility of Zambia defaulting on its foreign debt.

“At that meeting we hope we can come to a meeting of minds as to what exactly they would require from us in order to engage for a programme,” she said.