(TIMES) State pledges to prioritise fight against poverty

State pledges to prioritise fight against poverty
By Times Reporter

Government will prioritise the fight against poverty by helping expand the private sector in order to create more opportunities for the poor, Finance and National Planning Minister, Situmbeko Musokotwane, has said.

Dr Musokotwane said in Lusaka yesterday that poverty could be best fought by expanding the private sector.

Speaking when he met a group of cooperating partners, the minister said expanding the private sector would offer opportunities for the poor and ultimately improve their lives.

He assured cooperating partners that although there was a new team at the ministry, the basics of economic management would not change.

The minister said for Zambia, 2008 started as a good year with high copper prices promising a lot for the country, but that the scenario changed with the fall in prices.

Copper prices fell by about 60 per cent, affecting the country’s foreign currency earnings.

Dr Musokotwane said he would next Tuesday issue a ministerial statement in Parliament on the current copper prices.

He, however, said at the moment, the banking sector had not been affected by the fall in copper prices.

Speaking on behalf of cooperating partners, Swedish ambassador, Lars Ronnas, said good relations between the Zambian Government and cooperating partners should continue.

Mr Ronnas said it was good that Dr Musokotwane knew the principles which cooperating partners used although the main issue was local ownership of the programmes.

He said donors wanted to see good governance and transparency in the use of funds and also in the fight against corruption.

“We agree that a prudent fiscal policy is key to Zambia for it to pursue other issues because fighting poverty comes to a country with a growing economy,” he said.

On agriculture he said Zambia needed a policy that would guarantee food reserves and avoid investment in one area of agriculture.

And before holding a closed door meeting with the Chamber of Mines, Dr Musokotwane said the ministry was ready to listen to the mining sector because it was still the country’s mainstay of the economy.

He said he wanted to encourage investment in the mining sector because it could move the country forward.

Chamber of Mines president, Nathan Chishimba, said mining companies looked forward to working with the new minister.