• It is very difficult for government to determine the impact of the Economic Recovery Plan.
• It will be very imperative maybe after 3 or 6 months to assess the actual impact.
• Government’s move to come up with such a plan is however a good move.

An Economist says it is currently difficult for government to determine the impact of the recently launched Economic Recovery Plan (ERP) due to negative effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Mambo Phiri told Money FM News in an interview that the Plan can only be assessed in the long term to see what economic benefits it will have on businesses that have collapsed as a result of the pandemic.
Mr. Phiri said assessing the impact will be very imperative maybe after Six months, so that businesses that have been affected by Covid-19 can also enhance their operations through various tax incentives that they have received from government.
“Based on the current macro-economic outlook , it’s very difficult for government to determine the impact of the Economic Recovery Plan because of the adverse effects of Covid-19 which has affected a lot of business activities.”
“So maybe in the long term we will able to assess, to see what will be the ultimate impact for the recovery plan so that at least most of the businesses that have been affected can also enhance their operations through various tax incentives that they have received from government and also other means that government is trying to bring on board,” Mr. Phiri said.
He commended government for coming up with such an Economic Recovery Plan because it will give proper guidance on how the country is going to manage all the economic hardships that citizens, business players and regulators on the market are facing.

“It will be very imperative maybe after 3 or 6 months, to assess the actual impact of the economic recovery plan so that we see the way forward but otherwise the move is a welcome one, it’s very good for government to come up with such a recovery plan so that at least it gives us proper guidelines on how the country is going to manage all these economic hardships that citizens are facing and business players as well as regulators on the market,” he added.
On 16 December 2020, President Edgar Lungu launched the country’s Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) 2020-2023.
The Plan brings together a set of necessary Multisectoral policies and interventions aimed at restoring and building back better the economy in order to deliver on the national priorities.