Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
The Private Sector Development Association (PSDA) is concerned that the debt component of Zambia’s economy has now escalated competing with the national development programme.
The PSDA notes that the country is now servicing interest on debt as much as it is spending on development because government has continued to borrow.
PSDA Chairperson Yusuf Dodia is worried that Zambia will only increase its debt burden if
government continues borrow on the international capital market when it has already indicated in the 2015 national budget that the country will be spending K 5.3 billion towards servicing interests on debt.
Mr. Dodia says this is especially that the country appears to be failing in using the money it is borrowing on economic infrastructure that would help the economy grow.
He has told Qfm News the country needs therefore to look at the other side of the equation and consider possibilities of reducing expenditure in the 2015 national budget now that revenue has reduced.
Mr. Dodia says it would be a more prudent formula to recast this year’s national budget for the next six months as a way of containing expenditure.
He notes that borrowing more money on international market, as government has hinted at by increasing the external debt ceiling from K35 Billion to K60 Billion, will only put more pressure on the country’s economy.