PeP weighs in on PF perfomance in 2017

PeP President Sean Tembo

Patriots for Economic Progress (PeP) President Sean Tembo has observed that the PF Government has this year performed well in stabilization of key monetary policy variables such as inflation and interest rates in which the Bank of Zambia exhibited sound levels of competence.

The PeP Leader says there are however other areas where the PF Government has not performed well this year which include the increase of 75% in electricity tariffs.

Mr. Tembo says the indiscriminate borrowing by government which has seen the country fall into a debt trap with existing total debt estimated at about US$43 billion made up of external debt of about US$8 billion, domestic debt of about US$4 billion, project finance debt of about US$29 billion and other debt of about US$2 billion dollars.

He says this year, the government’s lack of fiscal discipline by spending above budget which when combined with failure to meet revenue collection targets, has resulted into a significant fiscal deficit thereby undermining the bedrock of economic growth.

Mr. Tembo says the PF in government has underperformed in terms of the continued use of state institutions to settle political scores which saw the opposition leader, Hakainde Hichilema being incarcerated for a period of about 124 days on false treason charges.