Zambia’s debt within normal range – Kalumba
ZAMBIA’S debt status is within normal range contrary to political sentiments being issued by some sections of society, says former Finance Minister Katele Kalumba
Dr Kalumba said Zambia’s economic situation was not in a dire situation as others were trying to portray but advised that the nation should endeavour to boost the manufacturing sector to ensure more goods were exported in order to earn foreign exchange.
In an in interview yesterday, he said the nation should take advantage of infrastructure such as a good road network and sufficient energy supply, in addition to conformity to austerity measures as announced by the Finance Minister Margaret Mwanakatwe.
The former Finance Minister said with these measures in place, the nation could grow its foreign reserves which currently stood at $1.57 billion to as much as $4billion to three months of import cover. Dr Kalumba said having studied the statement highlighting the economic performance as at the end of December 2018 issued by Ms Mwanakatwe, he described the brief as open and positive. He said the results of austerity measures would in due course be seen as they were only announced last year.
He urged politicians not to be overly emotional in criticising Zambia’s economy for the sake of gaining political mileage. “Having read the statement from the Finance Minister I must it has portrayed a positive economic outlook and the minister should be supported and I applaud her for the work she is doing,” Dr Kalumba said. Ms Mwanakatwe said Zambia’s economic performance in 2019 looks bright and growth was expected to remain resilient due to the anticipated good performance of key sectors.