Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
President Edgar Lungu
President Edgar Lungu says painful but necessary decisions will be taken in the next five years of his presidency.
Speaking when he met business leaders at a special breakfast meeting at Chrismar Hotel in Lusaka today, President Lungu says some measures will be painful but will yield results, and that by 2021, people will reward the PF for having taken such action.
He says government has been constrained to take certain measures due to political considerations.
President Lungu says he now has five years which is sufficient time to take more decisive action.
He says he will take measures to grow the economy and control expenditure.
President Lungu also revealed that Government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have made great progress and reached broad consensus on the key areas of the bailout plan.
He states that all components of the IMF Programme will be mutually agreed.
The Head of State hinted at a rapid but progressive migration to a cost-reflective tariff structure in the electricity and fuel sectors and the restructuring of the agriculture support programme under which government provides subsidies for seed and fertilizer.