Zambia’s economic growth in 2019 is projected to slow down due to continued adverse weather conditions which will negatively impact on agriculture production and the energy sector, says Minister of Finance Margret Mwanakatwe.
Mwanakatwe said the slowdown in the global economy is likely to weigh down on the domestic economy. Speaking when she officiated at the quarterly performance report meeting held in Lusaka on May 10th, 2019, attended by the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Mwanakatwe stated that the country’s economic growth in 2018 was a resilient and that the GDB grew by 3.7 percent from 3.5 in 2017.
She explained that the key drivers to this growth included mining, electricity, manufacturing and financial services sectors. Mwanakatwe further noted that the poor climate conditions affected agriculture output which brings about the importance of adopting climate resilient agriculture practices and quickening the pace of implementation of the country’s economic diversification programme.
The Minister has also indicated that the country’s budget performance on the fiscal side over the first quarter of 2019 has seen domestic revenues collection of K14.99 billion, which were above target by 4.4 percent adding that this was mainly driven by higher non-tax revenue collections from declaring of dividends.
She added that domestic financed expenditure amounted to K12.8 billion below the budget projection due to depreciation of the exchange rate in the first quarter of the year. She said most expenditure items were constrained below budget projections except for interest payments on debt which were 16.2 percent higher than the projected at 5.0 billion.
“I wish to add that the bulk of the above projected performance in domestically generated revenues, amounting to K1.4 billion were utilized on meeting the shortfalls on maturities for government paper . And in line with the fiscal consolidation drive, government intends to front fiscal consolidation over the medium term, I will be outlining measure that we must undertake subsequently,” she said.
Meanwhile, the minister said government is aware of the challenges facing the economy and that it will remain committed to addressing these challenges so as to foster inclusive growth and sustainable debt management.
