DO NOT BE CHEATED OVER FUEL – ANTHONY BWALYA
“… the UPND Government was dismantling PF arrears on fuel, over $500m worth; redirecting resources towards citizens’ programs such as public sector employment, community development via CDF, FREE EDUCATION, dismantling pensions arrears and expanding support to the most vulnerable.”
2nd November, 2022 – Lusaka
PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema’s Spokesperson Anthony Bwalya has alerted the general citizenry not to be cheated by the opposition political camp over fuel pricing in the country.
Mr Bwalya said that by August 2021, when oil prices were hovering around $70 per barrel, the PF regime were borrowing around $67m per month to finance their fuel subsidy program.
He urged the citizenry to note that all local borrowing associated with that very expensive, unsustainable subsidy program by the PF was also partly responsible for diverting critical capital away from Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as local banks preferred to lend to government rather than to SMEs while any available headroom for banks to lend to SMEs came at a heavy premium of over 28%.
This is why, in part, he says the economy died; that there were zero growth opportunities for SMEs.
The Presidential Spokesperson said that to make the situation worse, the PF regime, rather than taking the money they were collecting at the pump to paying international oil suppliers, they simply squandered the money – hence the $627m UNPAID invoices they left the Nation with.
“Needless to mention, that the PF fuel subsidy program was also costing Zambians jobs in the health and education sectors, Army, Air-force, ZNS, Police; as well as eroding opportunities for local community development,” he said.
Mr Bwalya said that the PF-run fuel subsidy program had simply become unsustainable and counterproductive to the economy – with the country credit profile having failed, no one was willing to lend the PF regime any money, while suppliers were on the verge of withholding supplies.
“We were sitting on a ticking time bomb,” said Mr Bwalya.
He said that the PF were like an irresponsible parent leading a debt funded luxury lifestyle, only to be paid for by his children when he is long dead and gone.
He observed that today, oil prices were around $90 per barrel. A fuel subsidy program similar to what the PF were doing would cost the Nation around $80m per month or approximately $960m per year, if not over $1bn!!!
“President Hakainde Hichilema and the UPND have done the difficult but RESPONSIBLE thing: cut subsidies on fuel, cut irresponsible local borrowing and restore our national credit profile – interest rates are now lower than 17%, meaning cheaper access to capital for SMEs and a lower cost of money for individuals,” said Mr Bwalya.
He disclosed that the UPND Government was dismantling PF arrears on fuel, over $500m worth; redirecting resources towards citizens’ programs such as public sector employment, community development via CDF, FREE EDUCATION, dismantling pensions arrears and expanding support to the most vulnerable.
“To top all of this up, macroeconomic stability is back – inflation is at 9.7% from 24% under the PF, Kwacha is stable and performing brilliantly against other currencies, economic growth is back on a positive path at +2% from less than -2%,” said Mr Bwalya.
Adding, “Fellow citizens, you cannot solve the problem around the cost of living without REBUILDING THE ECONOMY – Takwaba, elyo takwakabe ( In Simon Mwewa’s voice),” he said.
Mr Bwalya pointed out that President Hakainde Hichilema was working and citizens, the ones who elected him, would judge him on the strength of actual deliverables come 2026.
“We are facing past and current problems head-on, responsibly paying our way through them, and creating a solid base for future generations to face and solve their own problems,” he said.
The Presidential Spokesperson was speaking in the wake of November’s upward revised fuel-pump price as announced by the Energy Regulation Board (ERB), a move which has made some opposition political parties to begin misleading the masses over the administration of fuel and other petroleum products in the country.
(C) The Falcon