Government Is Printing Money - Musokotwane

UPND chairman for economics and finance, Situmbeko Musokotwane, has accused the government of ‘printing money’; an approach which he described as dangerous to the national economy. 

Speaking on Millennium Radio’s ‘Interview Program’, Mr Musokotwane explained that the the Bank of Zambia is loaning money to the government, an act which is basically tantamount to printing money. 

The former finance minister said the PF government has spent all its tax revenue and thus has no option but to borrow from the central bank. He described this as adding fuel to a fire. 

“the exchange rate under such circumstances is likely to go up because now even to pay external debt, the central bank will be loaning government which is a wrong way to do things,’’ he said. 

In particular Mr Musoktwane highlighted the mining sector as requiring special economic support from the government, being the largest employer and largest tax payer in Zambia.

“The PF always want to spend money without understanding production, this is why the mining sector is still facing challenges, in 2010 and 2011 our copper production was more than 2 million metric tons per year but currently we (Zambia) are below 800, 000 metric tons,’’ he said.

He concluded that Zambia needed a more varied budget for 2021, as opposed to this year’s budget of which 50% is spent on salaries, 40% on debt repayments and 10% on other projects. 

He promised that a UPND government would take a harder line with Zambia’s creditors and renegotiate the country’s debts to free up capital for improving citizens’ lives.