Zambia targets 5% GDP growth rate

Secretary to Treasury Fredson Yamba – Pic by Albert Mpezeni

Government has targeted an average annual real Growth Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of at least 5 percent by the year 2020.

In a green paper released to QTV News by Secretary to the Treasury Fredson Yamba, Government says its specific broad socio-economic objectives during the 2018-2020 will include, maintaining single digit inflation in the range of 6-8 percent; Accelerating the diversification of the economy, particularly towards agriculture, manufacturing, tourism and energy.

And Mr. Yamba says government will continue with the dismantling of arrears owed to suppliers of goods and services, as well as contractors so as to unlock economic activity.

Mr. Yamba says the Government has designed a medium-term-time-specific arrears-dismantling-strategy which will see arrears being gradually cleared, over the medium term, through the use of budgetary provisions and restructuring of some of the components into longer term debt instruments.

Mr. Yamba says in order to support the development trajectory set out for the 2018 – 2020 medium term, the institutional framework needs to be right.

He says as such the Government will continue to follow through with the necessary structural reforms so as to ensure that the medium term Budgets deliver the expected development.

He states that this will include the operationalisation of the Project Appraisal System and e-Procurement as well as the revision and enactment of public financial management legislation to ensure effective and efficient use of public resources, improved credibility of the budget and enhanced Parliamentary oversight over debt contraction.

The Secretary to the Treasury says over the medium term, the government is also expected to fully phase out electricity subsidies, with the migration to cost reflective tariffs once the Cost of Service Study, which is currently underway, is completed.