The Economics Association of Zambia says assurance by the Ministry of Finance that Zambia’s economy is on the path to recovery shows that government already has a plan in place to repay the 350 million dollar Euro bond which will mature in 2022.

Speaking in an interview, Association President Lubinda Habazoka said “this should be a signal to the international Capital market to reduce risk of default by government.”
Dr. Habazoka said if the market takes the assurance seriously, the association expects bonds to rebound and perform at acceptable levels.
“With this message coming from the Ministry responsible for Finance, we would like to insinuate that government already has a plan in place to amortize the 350 million dollar Euro bond which matures in 2022,” Dr. Habazoka said.
He added that the Association is particularly happy with government’s serious motives to ensure that the country’s debt burden is reduced by 5 to 7 billion US dollars by cancelling out already signed but undisbursed debt as this will give the country a breather to do other activities.
“If the market seriously takes this message, we expect our bonds to rebound and perform at acceptable levels. But overall we are very happy with government’s serious motives to ensure that we reduce our debt by 5 to 7 billion US dollars by cancelling out already signed but undisbursed debt,” he stated.
Addressing the nation yesterday, Finance Minister Dr. Bwalya Ng’andu said the reduction in the undisbursed debt by cancellation and re-scoping of selected project loans, coupled with the moratorium on project loan contraction will contain rise in the debt stock and position the country on a sustainable path.