By JAMES KUNDA –
FINANCE Minister Felix Mutati has said given the economic trends in the first half of this year, the projected growth rate of 4.3 per cent remained feasible owing to the developments in key economic sectors.
In a Treasury statement on the economic performance of the first half of this year, Mr Mutati said yesterday that the country’s external sector performance was also better than the corresponding period last year.
He said preliminary data showed that the country’s merchandise trade balance recorded a surplus of US$186.6 million compared to a deficit of $316.4 million in the first half of 2016.
Mr Mutati attributed the positive external sector performance to a rebound in copper and cobalt export earnings as export volumes and realised prices recovered.

MUTATI

The minister said imports grew by 15.4 per cent to $3.938 billion in the first half of the year from $3.412 billion in the corresponding period.
Mr Mutati said as at the end of last month, Zambia’s foreign reserves amounted to $2.4 billion, which translated into 3.3 months of import cover.
“The Government’s objective is to attain four months of import cover over the medium-term,” Mr Mutati said.
He said the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) collected K2.212 billion in taxes against a projected target of K2.25 billion.
Mr Mutati also announced that the shareholders of Intermarket Bank Corporation had made good progress towards ensuring that the institution resumes operations soon.
Meanwhile, Mr Mutati assured the donor community and other growth partners that the country’s debt would remain within sustainable parameters.
Mr Mutati was certain about the achievement as this was one of the commitments to the success of the indigenous economic stabilization and growth programme dubbed ‘Zambia Plus’.
The minister said this in Lusaka on Monday when he featured on a special ZNBC programme on the ‘Zambia Plus’.
Mr Mutati said the country had in the first half of this year derived benefits from the implementation of the five-year ‘Zambia Plus’.
He said the Kwacha had stabilised against other currencies, with inflation in single digit margins.
Mr Mutati said the country’s foreign reserves were recovering owing to the stringent fiscal measures in place.
He said the Bank of Zambia had also implemented several measures to ease liquidity in the financial market and empower Zambians to venture into entrepreneurship.
Mr Mutati assured the nation that the impending programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would have no ripple effects on the economy.
He said apart from the IMF, the Government treasured its relations with all available cooperating partners that were also critical to the success of the ‘Zambia Plus’.