Washington | Friday
THE International Monetary Fund on Thursday extended an immediate $64-million credit to Zambia, part of a three-year allotment of some $326-million approved for the African nation in 1999.
The latest disbursement was endorsed after an annual review of Zambia’s performance, the IMF said in a statement.
“Zambia’s economic performance continued to improve in 2001, and most program targets and performance criteria have been observed,” Shigemitsu Sugisaki, the IMF’s deputy managing director and acting chairman, said.
“For the second consecutive year, per capita income is expected to increase,” he said, adding that monetary policy “has helped to bring down inflation and to reduce instability in the foreign exchange market.”
Early last month, Zambian Finance Minister Katele Kalumba announced Zambia’s economy is expected to grow five percent in 2001, powered by strong performances in the agriculture, mining, construction and tourism sectors.
Kalumba said the major challenge his government faces in the last quarter of the year is maintaining low inflation, whose stability is threatened by impending grain imports. The IMF credit for Zambia, known as a “poverty reduction and growth facility,” carries an annual interest rate of 0.5 percent and is repayable over 10 years, with a five-and-a-half-year grace period on principal payments. – AFP