World Bank vice president for Africa Callisto Madavo said Thursday during a visit to Lusaka, that the Southern African countrys poverty levels had risen over the past decade, reports the World Bank press review Monday.
The vice president said 70 percent of Zambians now lived below the poverty line, with the majority living on one US dollar per day. He, however, noted the country had taken strong strides in the past three years to get out of poverty and see meaningful development.
He said Zambia had also embraced the diversification program with zeal, and it was important that the country moved away from depending on its traditional copper exports. He was impressed with the position Government had taken to institute macro-economic stability and fiscal discipline and was optimistic Zambia would reach the HIPC completion point by the close of the calendar year 2004.
He maintained that though Zambia had managed to maintain macro-economic discipline, it had to continue with its economic reform process with or without the HIPC initiative. – As the World Bank, we will stay the course and continue to support Zambia, Madavo said.
At HIPC completion point, the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and other multilateral and bilateral donors will write-off 3,8 billion US dollar of Zambias estimated 6,8 billion dollar external debt stock.
As part of the HIPC deal, Zambia is expected to maintain sustained macroeconomic stability, keep the civil service wage bill within 8 percent of GDP and also reduce domestic borrowing to December this year.
The government is expected by December to settle arrears owed to power utility Zesco before its commercialization and liberalize the energy sector to enable oil marketing companies to import fuel if they want.
Meanwhile, local newspaper the Times of Zambia reported Saturday that Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa said his government will sign a 28 million US dollar loan with the World Bank on Monday. The president was quoted as saying the loan is meant for the Support for Economic Expansion and Diversification program.
Mwanawasa also noted tourism was one of the sectors that would benefit from the loan because government considered it key to economic recovery. He said Zambia had benefited from the World Bank and would continue to partner with it since it was an important institution in the countrys economic development.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
