Mwale sees need to sustain stable fiscal regime

Former Mines Minister Maxwell Mwale has observed the need for the country to sustain a stable fiscal regime.

Mr. Mwale says industries such as Mining are particularly sensitive to changes of the fiscal regime.

In an interview with Qfm News, Mr. Mwale who is also opposition UPND chairperson for Mines says this means that the fiscal changes that have been announced in the 2015 national budget will not be received well in Mining sector.

Mr. Mwale notes that for example, the implication of the announced changes in taxation for both the high cost and low cost mining will affect investment in the sector.

He says government needs to ensure that the country has a fiscal regime that is also comparable in the region.

Mr. Mwale wonders why any investor would invest in Zambia under such a fiscal regime in a country where the copper grades are about 3 percent and below when an investor can still invest in neighboring Congo DRC where the copper grades are above 10 percent.

He says this implies that the country needs to be very careful by ensuring that it has harnesses the investment it has been attracting in the mining sector.

Mr Mwale says whether Zambians like it or not they need to realize that the country needs Foreign Direct Investment in order to create jobs.

And Mr. Mwale says he feels vindicated that that up to now the windfall tax which he was against when he was Mines Minister has not been reintroduced.

He has maintained that the reintroduction of windfall tax would affect investment in the mining sector.