By DELPHINE ZULU –

. Chanda

STATE House spokesperson Amos Chanda has praised the performance of President Edgar Lungu, describing it as exceptional.
In an interview to review the President’s stay in office, Mr Chanda said Mr Lungu had managed to keep the country united, holding it firmly in the midst of enormous challenges.
He said the current economic situation had been the most difficult since Zambia gained her independence, with issues such as power generation which had reduced to half in the country’s history and the drastic fall in copper prices affecting the nation.
He said other matters included huge deficits occasioned by reduced revenue since the mines were not operating at full capacity due to insufficient electricity, the strength of the dollar on the international market, and the depreciation of the local currency – the Kwacha – by half.
Mr Chanda said Mr Lungu took over the presidency when the country had huge Budget deficits.
He said amidst these challenges, the President had ensured that Zambia continues recording appreciable economic growth.
He said the huge Budget deficits were incurred during the funeral arrangements for late President Michael Sata, and the presidential by-election which took place within a short period.
“His performance is remarkable. The situation has been bad but it can’t get worse than this because the President has made tough responses.
“Austerity measures have been pronounced on cutting down on expenses and still get all the social measures, Budget and Government running,” Mr Chanda said.
He said the only time that Zambia underwent a similar economic crisis was in 1993 when fuel prices rose to abnormal levels, nearly breaking the economy.
He said that was the time Zambia accumulated excessive debt to service social services.
Mr Chanda assured the nation that there was a positive economic outlook projected for 2016 due to the improvement in the mining sector.
This would be despite the heightened political activities, he observed.
He also said the signing of the Constitution Amendment Bill next year would be the biggest achievement any President would want to witness because it would give the Zambian people what they had been crying for.
“The cost of running unexpected presidential by-elections is costly, but now that the Bill on having a running mate will be signed, this will no doubt bring stability not only to the country but an assurance of political stability to investors as well,” Mr Chanda said.