Finance Minister Confident About Poverty Reduction

 Finance and National Planning Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane expressed optimism last week that Zambia is heading in the right direction regarding poverty reduction.

His comments came in the wake of a troubling report published by the World Bank, which posited that poverty has been becoming more entrenched over time: “the Gini index stood at 51.5, significantly above the World Bank’s newly adopted high-inequality threshold of 40. This places Zambia as the country with the 4th highest inequality in the region”, said the report.

The government however, remains untroubled by this news, and is confident Zambia is on the right track. In response to the report, Dr Musokotwane highlighted that the report was based upon data collated between 2015 and 2022, the year after the incumbent UPND government came to power; therefore, six of the seven years in question were under PF leadership. The Finance Minister was particularly critical of the PF’s industrial policy, claiming this accelerated inequality and decimated entire communities: “when the KCM and Mopani mines were closed, miners were thrown onto the streets. Mine suppliers were thrown out of business. Grocery shops went out of business”. He then cited the UPND government’s record of reopening mines, accelerating economic growth in Copperbelt Province particularly. Furthermore, the government has taken significant strides in expanding access to healthcare and education, key tools in fight against poverty.

Dr Musokotwane urged Zambians to judge his government on its own record, not based on trends dating back years before it came to power. He is confident that the UPND has taken the right steps to alleviate poverty: “I am sure that next time a poverty survey is conducted, improvements will be noticed”.