Zambia Targets IMF Extension by Year-End, Finance Minister Says

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00:00We definitely want to extend the program for another one year.

00:07A lot of the reforms that we've had to undertake supported both in terms of

00:13thinking but also in terms of financial resources

00:17has been very beneficial to us including the fact that we are now

00:22spending more money on education, on health. I think that has

00:26been part of the package. Now definitely we hope that the extension

00:34of the program by an extra year that will come with financial support.

00:40We are improving but our base is still at the beginning phases of our

00:47improvement and therefore there's vulnerability to

00:51shocks and unexpected circumstances. So to the extent that we can get

00:58financial pushing and that I think is positive.

01:04And we are hoping that as we

01:08push more and more certainly by 2027, 2028

01:13when the benefits of all these reforms will be out much stronger

01:16the need for an IMF program will be reduced. We've been there before. By 2011

01:24Zambia had no need to go into an IMF program.

01:28Unfortunately the administrators that were responsible at the time

01:35pushed the country into debt and hence we've had to go back to the IMF.

01:40We're hoping that in the next two years, three years, the need for going to the IMF will not be there.

01:47A few weeks ago you mentioned the figure of I think 145 million dollars or so that you were

01:52looking to get as a topper from the International Monetary Fund. Is that still the thinking?

01:58Well, I think maybe if I mention the figure, yes, but for right now I don't want to mention the

02:12figure even though I mentioned it before because I don't want to be presumptive on the discussion

02:19that I want to take place and the position that the IMF themselves will take on the amount.

02:24By when do you hope to have finalized or reached an agreement at a staff level

02:32with the IMF on a 12-month extension?

02:36We are hoping that before the end of this year we should get that completed.

02:40Another interesting aspect in your budget, and you were talking about the automotive industry earlier,

02:47do you have any potential interest or any expressed interest from automotive companies in,

02:57for example, complete knockdown facilities as you've now incentivized fiscally?

03:03Yes, we do have expressed interest on that.

03:10But we have to work together and make sure that, I mean, to provide an incentive is one thing,

03:21to have interest is another thing, but there are so many other things that we must work out.

03:28But we are hoping that we will push through so that indeed the interest in motorcycles,

03:39tri-cycles, tractor assembly and stuff like that can be concretized.

03:46Which companies are you talking to about such facilities?

03:49No, I don't, I can't mention their names for...

03:54Can you say from which they originate?

03:58I can't mention that also because

04:04I would need to understand from this perspective whether they want us to say who they are.

04:10Of course, if things come out concrete, we'll disclose.

04:14Sure.

04:15Okay, just that I don't know the attitude that they have.

04:19I've just got two last quick ones.

04:21The first one is a complicated one, Afrexenbank and TDB discussions.

04:27We reported earlier, we reported yesterday that Afrexenbank is pursuing arbitration against Zambia

04:35over the debt restructuring. How worried are you about the potential ramifications

04:42on the greater debt restructuring if Afrexenbank is challenging what the OCC,

04:48the Official Creditor Committee, has told Zambia it must do with that debt?

04:53Yeah. We are still hoping that, yes, they've gone for arbitration as we understand it.

05:00But we are still hoping that we could get a solution that adheres to the debt restructuring framework

05:11because for that there is no deviation. The bulk of the support from the bigger, bigger amounts

05:21that we own is premised on collective treatment of debt in a similar fashion.

05:30So we cannot deviate from that. But within that constraints, we hope that we can still find

05:38a solution that will work out for both institutions, of course ourselves. So let's wait and see.

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