Browsing: Zambia

lusaka, zambia

Zambia’s external debt stock had increased to $10.23 billion by end of June 2019.

With the International Monetary Fund warning that the country’s debt was becoming unsustainable, Zambia’s finance minister Bwalya Ng’andu said Zambia would postpone and cancel some planned loans, refinance existing ones and stop offering guarantees for quasi-public entities.

He added that the treasury would also be more cautious in contracting new debt as he read a surplus budget that will be partially financed by external partners.

“The government proposes to spend Kz106.0 billion ($8.03 billion) in 2020, representing 32.4 per cent of GDP of this amount Kz72.0 billion ($5.5 billion) will come from domestic revenues while the balance will be raised through domestic and external financing,” Dr Ng’andu told legislators.

The finance minister said the government will not replace its value-added tax (VAT) with a controversial non-refundable sales tax which met fierce opposition from businesses, opposition and …