WE ASK AGAIN: IF DEBT RESTRUCTURING FAILS; WHAT HAPPENS TO THE KWACHA?
A few months ago, we raised concern about the debt restructuring and the Kwacha, which is now in free fall and currently one of the world’s worst performing currencies.
We asked Mr Hakainde Hichilema and his corrupt puppet regime to state clearly what other options were there for Zambia under the UPND government rule?
Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane, the Minister of Finance, once said the Kwacha was depreciating due to the country’s delayed debt restructuring. If he were right, then what would happen to the Kwacha if this debt restructuring totally failed?
The reality is that Zambia’s debt is not new, it hasn’t just arisen. The Kwacha was, for some time, appreciating on the back of this national debt burden. It even went as low as K15.89 to the US Dollar under this government.
But it is now flying over and reaching K23.5 to the US Dollar under the same government. What exactly is happening? What practical interventions are there to help the situation? What next if debt restructuring collapses completely?
We deserve to know the truth about the economy and the future of our country as well as how we will respond to this debt restructuring plan and how we should proceed with it as a result of the current setbacks. It is not right that when the international media platforms are all talking about us, our own leaders are mute and going about the situation like it’s business as usual.
We ask them to address us with the same zeal they had when they returned from the debt restructuring meetings in France in June. They were ecstatic; they even came out of the sunroof of their vehicles as they triumphantly drove through the streets of Lusaka. But what has changed now?
The country is waiting to hear from them. They can’t afford to be this quiet and not be able to talk about the situation especially when everything is going wrong and nothing seems to be working out for them.
Dr Fred M’membe
President of the Socialist Party