Trim Cabinet to cut costs, says Economist

CABINET should be trimmed to cut Government expenditure aimed stabilsing the economy, encomiast Chibamba Kanyama has advised.

Mr Kanyama said following the outbreak of the Coronavirus in China and other factors, Zambia’s imports from that country have reduced and having negative impact on the .country's economic performance which should be addressed immediately by coming up with workable solutions.

He said the country was already facing way too many challenges at the moment which had resulted in reduced reserves, low economic growth, high inflation, volatile exchange rate, high deficit levels, high debt servicing margins and increased domestic debt.

Mr Kanyama called for rationalisation of operations on the part of Government and where possible, downsize the civil service through realistic reforms, reduce the number of government ministries so as to focus on those that have direct positive impact to keep the economy on track in the short and long term.

He also advised that as a mitigation measure, the country should start looking at reducing the number of foreign missions in preference to those with direct economic value and also keep a tab on infrastructural investment.

“As a mitigation measure Government should consider trimming the number of ministries to cut expenditure, down size the civil service and reduce the number of foreign missions in preference to those with direct economic value and also keep a tab on infrastructural investment,” he said. Mr Kanyama said the Chinese government was diverting huge resources from other areas of investment towards containing the coronavirus which has led to reduced trade interaction between China and Zambia and resulted in the price of copper to reduce from the US$6200 per metric turn at the turn of 2020 to nearly US$5500 per metric tonne largely due to reduced demand.