The Center for Trade Policy and Development – CTPD and the Zambia Tax Platform – ZTP have expressed disappointment at the speech delivered by the of Minister of Finance, Dr. Bwalya N’gandu which they described as not offering hope to ordinary Zambians as it was merely a reminder of how citizens should brace themselves for tough days ahead.
Minister of finance Dr. Bwalya Ng’andu had last week addressed the nation on the state of the country’s economy and pledged to return the economy on the path to recovery through implementing debt management measures and enhance revenue collection.
But the ZTP is disappointed that looking at the measures government plans to undertake, it does not seem to have tangible solutions to address the various challenges the country is facing.
Speaking at a joint press briefing with CTPD on February 14, 2020, attended by the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, ZTP Chairperson Leah Mitaba also expressed concern at the rise in public debt which she said is now a threat to spending towards critical social sectors.
She has since called on government to be more transparent on the country’s debt situation as it has been silent on key information around debt especially with regards to the value of the pipeline debt, for both domestic and external.
“With regards to government’s announced plans to rescope debt, ZTP urges government to provide clarity on the specific projects it intends to rescope in an attempt to reduce project costs and undisbursed loan balances, as they relate to underspending in key sectors from 2019 fiscal year,” She added.
Leah has further noted the need by government to disclose how much it owes to financial institutions for the loan deductions it’s been collecting from civil servants saying it is wondering how dismantling of arrears seems more biased towards road constriction and the construction sector in general without considering other strategies towards unlocking private sector participation.
And CTPD Executive Director Isaac Mwaipopo said there is need to stimulate growth in the economy by placing government resources into sectors that can generate economic activities like the Agriculture sector.
He added that government should not only concentrate on dismantling arrears owed to local contractors but also deal with Agro dealers in the Agriculture sector as this may go a long way in facilitating their active participation specifically within the Agro space and the general economy at large.
