Posts Tagged ‘IMF’

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MUSOKOTWANE IN US FOR IMF/WORLD BANK MEETINGS

Wednesday, April 13th, 2011

Minister of Finance and National Planning, Dr. Situmbeko  Musokotwane  arrived in Washington DC on Tuesday morning  to attend  the proceedings of the   joint IMF/World Bank  Spring meetings to be held on April 16 and 17, 2011

According to a statement from Zambian Embassy in WashingtonDC and signed by Press Secretary Ben Kangwa, Dr. Musokotwane  who represents Zambia as Governor within the World Bank Group is heading the Zambian delegation which  includes Secretary to the Treasury  who is also Alternate Governor of the World Bank Mr. Likolo Ndalamei, Special Advisor to the President for Economy and Development,  Dr. Richard  Chembe and the Permanent Secretary (Budget and Economic Affairs) Mr. Emmanuel Ngulube  and other officials from the Ministry of Finance.

Also attending the Spring Meetings is   a team from the Bank of Zambia . Bank of Zambia Governor and Alternate Governor of the IMF, Dr. Caleb  Fundanga,   will join the Zambian delegation on Friday.

The  Washington   program  for the Minister of Finance  includes meetings with the management of the IMF and the World Bank to discuss recent economic developments in Zambia as well as areas where the two institutions can assist in the achievement of Zambia’s development agenda.

The Minister is scheduled to meet with World Bank Managing Director Ms. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to  share  views on Zambia’s Sixth National Development Plan, its macroeconomic reforms, infrastructure needs and other projects in the pipeline.

Other issues likely to be discussed  include Irrigation projects and its impact on food security, employment creation and economic growth.

He will also meet with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Mr. Dominique Strauss- Khan, e the Nowergian State Secretary Ms. Fiska Ingrid and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Vice President for Compact Implementation, Mr. Patrick Fine.

Dr. Musokotwane will also attend an IMF Panel discussion on the performance of  the Brazil , Russia, India and China (BRICs) serving as a new growth model for Low Income Countries (LIC) such as Zambia as well as attend  a meeting of the Africa Group1 Constituency.

Reports that will form part of the agenda for discussion at this year’s Spring meetings will include among others an update on the “World Bank Group Modernization “, the Global Monitoring Report for 2011, the 2011 World Development Report, the Global Food Prices and Governance and Accountability.

 

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MINING SECTOR TAXES INCREASE ZAMBIA’S REVENUE COLLECTION

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

By ZAMBIA NEWS FEATURES CORRESPONDENT

ZAMBIA’S revenue collection is this year expected to exceed the 2011 budget projections due to increased taxes from the mining sector, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) disclosed in a statement Wednesday at the conclusion of a visit to Zambia by its staff mission.

The observation by the IMF staff mission about increased revenue from taxes from the mining sector is poignant because there has been controversy over government’s refusal to introduce a windfall tax of the mining sector which is dependent on profits resulting from high mineral prices.

The IMF team observed that the performance of the Zambian economy continued to be good with real gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2010 adjusted upwards to 7.6 per cent, boosted by the record maize harvest, a continued increase in copper and construction output and a rebound in tourism.

The team further observed that inflation declined in line with expectations in 2010, but has increased slightly since the beginning of 2011 (up to 9.0 per cent in February).

“Non-food price inflation remains in the low double digits. Net domestic financing of the government was 0.3 per cent of GDP higher than targeted at end-2010 primarily as a result of higher interest payments and additional expenditures on the census and voter registration. The balance of payments for 2010 experienced a record-high current account surplus of about US$600 million (3.8 per cent of GDP), with international reserves increasing to US$1.9 billion as of end-February 2011. Private sector credit has returned to pre-crisis levels in nominal terms, despite an increase in nonperforming loans and still high real lending rates,” the team reported.

The team led by George Tsibouris, said revenue collections were expected to exceed the projections in the 2011 budget, due in large part to increased taxes from the mining sector, which should provide room for additional infrastructure and pro-poor expenditures.

The team said drawing on the experience in 2010, the government will need to ensure that its maize marketing role does not hamper private sector incentives and minimizes budgetary costs. (Read more here )

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LOAD SHEDDING AFFECTING ZAMBIAN ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION – IMF

Monday, December 27th, 2010

By ZAMBIA NEWS FEATURES CORRESPONDENT

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) has noted that electricity peak-load shortages and the thin and deteriorating road infrastructure are fundamental impediments to economic diversification and to a further strengthening of economic growth in Zambia.

The IMF, in its report on Zambia entitled Fifth Review Under the Three-Year Arrangement Under the Extended Credit Facility, Requests for Waiver of Non-observance of Performance Criterion and Modification of Performance Criteria, and Financing Assurances Review, also noted that state intervention and control in maize trading which was deregulated in the early 1990s, were being increasingly reintroduced.

The report said that given challenges in identifying sufficient concessional resources, the government intends to continue contracting relatively modest amounts of loans on non-concessional terms to finance electricity and road projects.

“These loans would not have a material impact on debt dynamics, with the risk of debt distress remaining low and well beneath critical thresholds. The (Zambian) authorities request, and staff supports, a shift from non-concessional borrowing tied to specific projects to a sector-based approach in the program, because this would provide more flexibility to align project sequencing to changing circumstances,” the report says in part.

(See full report here)

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