ZAMBIA CEMENTS TIES WITH EXTERNAL PARTNERS
ZAMBIA’S
desire to strengthen cooperation with local and international development partners is a key factor in ensuring sustained economic growth, Finance Minister Bwalya Ng’andu has said.
Dr Ng’andu said Zambia must not be shy to learn from others and benchmark her performances against best practices.
The minister was speaking during a brainstorming session at annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank Group (WBG) in Washington DC, United States of America.
He said Government was resolved to set priorities towards stimulating, stabilising and growing the economy.
Dr Ng’andu said the aspirations of the government stated in President Edgar Lungu’s State of the Nation address and the 2020 Budget, would anchor policy discussion points.
He said the stabilisation measures listed in the 2020 Budget such as restoring debt to sustainable levels and dismantling domestic arrears should be explained to stakeholders in the international financial market and in Zambia.
Other measures, he said, were effectively managing public expenditure as well as increasing the efficiency in Government.
Dr Ng’andu said the measures were expected to activate the necessary socio-economic adjustments and put the country on a sustained growth trajectory.
“This is the assurance our people and the international market need from us. Our plans for the near term as stated in the 2020 Budget are realistic and so should not raise false expectations or unwarranted doubt,” Dr Ng’andu said.
The delegation acknowledged that one of Zambia’s main objective at the meetings was to strengthen cooperation with development partners and investors.