• Investors don’t normally worry so much about economic status.
• They use their money to do business.
• The confidence of the investors can still be maintained.

An Economist says investor confidence can still be maintained despite government’s pronouncements that it has taken over a country whose coffers are empty.
Partner Siabutuba told Money FM News in an interview that in most cases, investors do not worry about a country’s financial status because they use their money to do business.
Mr. Siabutuba stated that the only people the country should be worried about are donors who give loans, because if the national coffers are empty, donor funds are usually diverted to other projects or misapplied.
He said empty coffers can still attract investor confidence as long as government assures them that amidst the bankruptcy, measures are being put in place to manage the country’s economic affairs as well as protect their investment.
“Investors don’t normally worry so much about economic status because they use their money to do business. The people you should be worried about are donors that give you loans because if you have empty coffers, usually you would use donor money to do other things or to misapply their donation.”
“So the confidence of the investors can still be maintained as long as you can promise them that amidst the bankruptcy that the country is facing, we are still able to put in measures for example to manage our own economic affairs and assure them that we are going to put in place policies that will protect their investment,” Mr. Siabutuba said.
He however stated that such pronouncements may raise questions among different players in the market who include investors because they listen to every comment that comes from government.
“So donors alike, would actually be more concerned with that statement, because now they are saying since their coffers are empty and we give them our money, is there guarantee that they will use our money for the intended purpose or they will divert it for example to pay civil service emoluments. Those are questions that donors would be worried about or would want answers.
“But generally speaking, investors might not have a huge problem with that statement but I think we have a few challenges about what kind of policy interventions we are putting in place given that financial status we have as a country,” he added.
On Wednesday, Republican President Hakainde Hichilema told BBC’s Focus on Africa that he has taken over a country whose coffers are empty, as the debt situation was not fully disclosed by the previous regime.
Earlier, Bank of Zambia Governor Christopher Mvunga disclosed during the Bank’s quarterly media briefing that at the end of August 2021, foreign reserves rose to about US$2.9 billion equivalent to 5.4 months of import cover.