Zambia cannot again fall in another debt trap – Yamba

This follows concerns raised by some opposition political parties who have observed that the continued borrowing of commercial loans by government is risking the country to falling into another debt trap.

Secretary to the Treasury Fredson Yamba has however told Qfm in an interview that possibilities of the country falling into another debt trap are not feasible as government always does a debt sustainability analysis before deciding to borrow.

Mr. Yamba says in the debt sustainability analysis government looks at the current debt portfolio compared to the country’s ability to pay back loans.

And Mr. Yamba has also disclosed that government’s continued borrowing is also facilitated by the country’s economy that has continued to grow.

Mr. Yamba however notes that what is important is that whatever the country borrows is invested in areas that further sustain the growth of the country’s economy so that in future the country should be able to pay back the debts.

He says government is spending some of the borrowed funds to among other investments, power generation where it expects to raise revenue through exports of electricity.