Lusaka | Thursday
THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday promised to support Zambia’s new government, and said the country was on the right track towards economic growth.
“In the last two years, the economy seems to be moving towards the (targeted) growth rate,” IMF deputy managing director Shigemitsu Sugisaki said after arriving with his team in Lusaka.
Zambian Finance Minister Emmanuel Kasonde said the government has made agriculture development and poverty reduction its priorities which need international support.
Zambia’s newly elected President Levy Mwanawasa named his cabinet on Monday in a major government overhaul, retaining only nine ministers and scrapping five of the 24 posts.
The move followed presidential, legislative and local elections held in late December.
Less than a week after being sworn in, Mwanawasa, the hand-picked successor to former president Frederick Chiluba, appealed to the international community to provide relief food to avert a hunger crisis.
The government has faced discontent from Zambians over the failure of its democratic and market reforms to boost living standards in one of the world’s poorest nations.
Kasonde said Zambia faced a huge task but was determined to move forward.
“But we are well aware that we cannot do this without the support of our cooperative partners like the IMF,” Kasonde said.
Sugisaki is scheduled to meet Mwanawasa on Thursday to discuss the country’s economic programmes. He will later meet private sector and business leaders.
Sugisaki was influential in accelerating Zambia’s accession to the Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, which slashes poor countries’ debt in the framework of poverty alleviation programs and economic reforms.
Sugisaki was accompanied by the IMF’s deputy director for the African Department, Robert Sharer. – AFP