(TIMES) ... as he recounts economy boost
... as he recounts economy boostBy Enock Ngoma
PRESIDENT Mwanawasa has challenged less privileged Zambians to address their poverty situation by taking advantage of the sound economic policies that have led to national economic growth. At a Press conference at State House in Lusaka yesterday, Dr Mwanawasa said while the nation had continued to record economic growth in the past five years, it was still faced with the challenges of poverty.
“For those of you countrymen and women who continue to face hard challenges from poverty and deprivation, I wish to encourage you not to lose hope. I urge you to take advantage of the many opportunities, which have been created to address the poverty situation. My administration is one that cares about you and your needs because that is the sole reason for which we sought office,” he said.
Outlining some of the economic achievements, he said inflation was now at its lowest dropping from around 26 per cent in 2002 to nine per cent this year, while the exchange rate that had been fully market driven had remained stable.
Interest rates were declining and commercial banks for the first time in the history of the country, were begging people to step forward to ask for loans.The real GDP growth, which had been averaging five per cent in the past five years, went to six per cent last year and was expected to exceed seven per cent by the end of this year.
He said the increase in the number of vehicles on the roads, the construction of various buildings including houses and shops were some of the indicators of economic growth.“For the achievements we have made, I wish to thank you the people of Zambia for your cooperation, understanding and hard work as we implement the measures that have resulted in the positive signs that are so visible today. I also wish to thank those who have supported us and continue to do so like the cooperating partners,” he said.
Dr Mwanawasa said despite these successes, there was still need to build and maintain more schools, more roads all over the country for the youth. He said there was need to attract more investments, whether local or foreign if more jobs were to be created like in the old days when employers were literally waiting for people to come out of schools to employ them.
The President, however, cautioned employers against flouting labour laws and mistreating their workers saying jobs were only sustainable if labour was made happy otherwise it would be withdrawn even when people were in need of jobs.
In the same vein, he urged employees to take their work seriously, diligently and honestly as efforts were being made to entice more investment to Zambia. But if the workers created an impression to the outside world that they were unreliable, dishonest and unproductive, then jobs would not stay as investors would shun the country.
He appealed to labour leaders to always take this into account as they interacted with their members so that vices such as theft of company property, incompetence and others were not condoned.
And Dr Mwanawasa has said there was no excuse on the part of the Government over the recent fuel shortage that rocked most parts of Zambia. He assured that there would be no recurrence of such a problem and added that the Government had received an offer from a bank to import feedstock but the officers declined to take up the offer saying tender documents had not been submitted. This caused the delay until only 14-days stock was left.
When the bank issued a letter of credit through Citibank in the United States, the situation became even more complicated because the feedstock was sourced from Iran, which was currently under economic sanctions, by the US.
It was only through his personal assurance and the involvement of a Bank of Zambia guarantee that the supplier eventually off-loaded the feedstock at the port of Dar. The ministries of Finance and Energy would work together to ensure proper modalities of payments were in place for the future.
Dr Mwanawasa also disclosed that local commercial banks had now shown willingness to be party to arrangements to import feedstock in future. Dr Mwanawasa announced at the same conference that the Government was working hard to prepare infrastructure for the 2011 All Africa Games that Zambia would host. He cited the construction of a new stadium in Ndola as one of the major projects to prepare for the event.
posted by MrK @ 6:27 PM
1 Comments:
Are my eyes deceiving me, or is the government finally addressing the domestic economy, and taking responsibility?
This is very exciting, and I hope and pray that they keep this up.
The real growth in Zambia is going to come from elevating the income of the people (not just through wages, but through ownership of houses, land, businesses and the mines), putting to use it's land resources and getting paid from the mines.
I would like to see the government set up economic task forces, the way they have set up a task force on corruption.
Finally, the country can start to develop and grow economically.
Let's make sure that economic growth occurs in a way that benefits the ordinary people. It is the only road to true wealth, and social stability.
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