HICHILEMA’S FREE FALLING KWACHA- Fred M’membe

3
Dr. Fred M'membe

HICHILEMA’S FREE FALLING KWACHA

The Kwacha seems to be in free falling trend. It is now selling at K21.26. Interesting, the nation is not being informed on what measures Mr Hakainde is taking to mitigate this situation.

Zambia is import dependent, therefore continuous depreciation results in imported inflation which means cost of goods and services will continue rising, thereby, killing the already constrained consumer.

As an example, at the current rate of Kwacha depreciating, one can safely predict a further hike in fuel prices at end of September – unless they perform some magic.

It would really help, if Mr Hichilema can give us a clear explanation on way forward to reverse this negative trend. All we are hearing is $17 billion investment pledges from ZDA, consistent signing of MoUs on every presidential visit. When will all these activities translate into the well being of our citizens.

Has the Bank of Zambia stopped the undesirable intervention using international reserves? Though undesirable, when the going gets tough, then the tough gets going, so at least we can get get a temporary respite to this free falling currency crisis.

The impact of this depreciation is heavily felt at the high end of our society, who pay school fees in dollars, overseas students support and so on and so forth.

At the bottom end it is felt via general increase in pricing. If one had to translate the general workforce salaries in dollars, you will have a heart attack so I won’t go there.

So the question to Mr Hichilema is: why is the Kwacha continuously depreciating, what measures are being put in place, when will mining dollar revenues stop declining being the major source of forex supply?

This occurrence is despite Zambia still not servicing its external debt. What will happen to our exchange rate when debt service resumes? We are in for a long haul.

It’s no longer about tightening our belts but probably heading to just cutting our waists!

Fred M’membe
President of the Socialist Party

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here