Mineral royalty tax income declines 66%

MINERAL Royalty Tax revenue has declined from approximately K15 million per month to about K5 million per month representing a 66 percent reduction, Finance Minister, Bwalya Ng’andu has announced. And the Troika, which comprises of Sweden, Ireland and Germany has urged Zambia to continue dialogue with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at a faster pace. The Troika also called on Government to enhance procurement reforms and ensure that the pronounced commitment to transparency and accountability was consistently observed. During a recent virtual consultative meeting with the Troika, Dr Ng’andu briefed the Troika that Covid-19 had resulted into macro- economic turbulences and adversely impacted the performance of trade, commerce and industrial production. This is according to a statement issued by Finance spokesperson, Chileshe Kandeta. Dr Ng’andu specified the most affected sectors as tourism, air-travel, hotel and accommodation, and wholesale and retail. He said the lockdowns implemented by some of Zambia’s neighbouring countries due to Covid-19, had decelerated the flow of Zambia’s exports and imports and adversely impacted the domestic economy. Dr Ng’andu briefed the meeting that revenue collection had experienced a dip due to reduced monthly tax revenue collections and cited Mineral Royalty Tax, which had declined from approximately K15 million per month to about K5 million per month, as a case in point.