Zambia’s Socialist Party President, Dr. Fred M’membe, has released a post on his Facebook page addressing the free fall of the country’s currency, the Kwacha. In the post, Dr. M’membe expressed his concerns over the current situation, stating that it is time for the government to address serious matters rather than engaging in endless politicking.
“It will be interesting to watch the monetary policy briefing on Wednesday and hope journalists will ask relevant questions such as, ‘what is the book value of unfulfilled forex demand?'” Dr. M’membe said. He went on to point out that the Bank of Zambia has a daily “pipeline” of remittances that customers have placed but cannot be executed due to supply constraints. This, he believes, is a cause for concern.
Dr. M’membe also urged journalists to inquire about the country’s external debt arrears, asking, “How much have external debt arrears accumulated to both interest and principal on debt stand still/unserviced? What is the external due date? What’s the reserve position? How much forex has been pumped in as market support by the Bank of Zambia?”
He further stated that it is important to understand what multi/bilateral debts the country is servicing and how much they are per annum. In addition, he questioned how much of the total government securities debt constitutes foreign portfolio investors in value and percentage terms, and how much forex reserves the country is currently holding. Dr. M’membe also expressed concerns about the risk of foreign investors pulling out upon maturity.
“Contrast this with how much forex reserves we are holding at the moment. And, should foreign investors pull out upon maturity, how much maturity risk are we carrying?” Dr. M’membe asked.
Dr. M’membe believes that it is the government’s responsibility to address these serious matters and communicate them to the nation. “These are serious matters that the government should be addressing and communicating to the nation rather than just carrying on with endless politicking,” he stated.
He also called on the Bank of Zambia to provide an indicative GDP number for 2023 given the measures they have undertaken, and also taking into account the stalled debt restructuring exercise. “The Ministry of Finance announced a 4.1 per cent growth. Does this still hold? Our view is that the revised number should be around 2.5 to 3 per cent,” he said.
Dr. M’membe’s statement highlighted the need for transparency and accountability from the government and the central bank in what he sees as these challenging times. He has urged journalists to ask the right questions and demand answers from those in power. It remains to be seen how the government will respond to these concerns, but Dr. M’membe’s statement is an important reminder that the issues facing Zambia are too important to be ignored.
One of upnd campaign promises was to make the kwacha stronger. It was at K15 to $1 when they took over now it’s K20 to $1 representing a devaluation of 30%. On this one they have failed.
Ando by March end it will be K21 to a dollar. Every variable is manipulated, inflation of 9% to GDP growth of 4.3% is cooked up.
UPND government is led by big mouths shallow morals and complete lack of any ethics.
Selected minions of the community hall head, the elitist businessmen and shadowy infestors are partaking in the loot of resources and national budget
HE SHOULD UNDERSTAND WORLD FINANCIAL MARKETS
BEFORE SPEWING GARBAGE ON HERE
SO SHOULD SOME BLOGS
BEAR IN MIND ZAMBIA IS NOT AN ISLAND
He heard it from me, because you fuuls don’t notice things that matters.
This gentleman M’membe is just a frustrated activist than a Socialist as he claims. After becoming rich through exploitation of the system, he has become vocal as a socialist. M’membe. It is either you are petty bougeous or a socialist. You cannot show to be both. Otherwise you are an opportunist.
Be critical in your analysis!! Everything from people outside government is is always ribbished in most cases without evidence
UND`HUMANISM, A SPECIAL Socialism , KK WAS FOUND ON EVERY PAGE , THIIS IS WHAT IS HAPPENING AND WHAT CAN HAPPEN WITH MEMBE
Very few politicians have addressed the issue of the dollar why is that? Is it because most of them are benefiting from this? Alot of them especially from the previous PF govt amassed millions of dollars and are probably happy with the status quo. Well done to Fred Mmembe for highlighting this problem. A weak Kwacha had led to so many challenges across the boards starting from high fuel prices to food prices in shops. This challenge deserves the highest level of attention by all in govt, the opposition and should not be swept under the carpet because a whole economy is at stake here.
Imagine fpr a second that we still had PF in power. We would have ground to a halt by now.