Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
Government says its macroeconomic objectives for the medium term, 2019-2021, is to attain an average annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of at least 4 percent.
Acting Secretary to the Treasury Dick Chellah Sichembe says this is in view of the austerity measures and in an effort to maintain a stable and resilient Zambian economy.
Dr. Sichembe has disclosed to Q-News in the 2019-2021 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) Green paper, that government also intends to sustain inflation within the range of 6 to 8 percent.
He says government further wants to raise international reserves to at least 4 months of import cover by 2021 and increase domestic revenue to not less than 19 percent of GDP by the same year.
Dr. Sichembe says in addition to this government wants to reduce the fiscal deficit to no more than 5.1 percent of GDP by 2021 and prioritize dismantling of arrears and curtail their accumulation.
He says this is besides reducing the pace of debt accumulation and ensure sustainability and accelerate the diversification of the economy supported by the implementation of structural reforms.
The Acting Secretary to the Treasury notes that economic and social policies in 2019 -2021 MTEF will focus on Social welfare, Education, Health, Agriculture, Manufacturing, Tourism, Energy and Roads.
He states that in view of the foregoing, government will implement a strong fiscal policy that is premised on supporting the effective implementation of the aforementioned sector policies.