Going all over the world borrowing will not save Zambia’s economy – Dr Musokotwane

Ex-Minister Musokotwane

Former Finance Minister Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane says going all over the world borrowing will not save Zambia’s economy.

Featuring on a Muvi TV programme Friday evening, Dr Musokotwane talked on the Economy.

Here is an overview of some of the key points he made:

Dr. Musokotwane clearly set out the importance of current economic problems for each and every Zambian, explaining that ‘When the economy is bad it means people lose jobs. It means for the young people the prospects for getting a job are not very good. When the economy is bad it means prices are rising.’

He summed up the problem of the current government’s approach when he said that ‘The way to provide for education, the way to provide for health, the way to provide for water is not just by going to borrow all over the world. The way to benefit the common man, whether its by sending their children to school, building them hospitals, providing them with water, is to make sure you have a strong economic base: that you are producing copper, you are growing maize, you are manufacturing items from that copper. By creating that economic base and generating money you will be able to benefit Zambians by creating jobs, making sure there is enough money to educate their children, and much more.’

Dr. Musokotwane also raised the importance of capability and leadership. He acknowledged that while the global economic situation is challenging not everyone is suffering and that as economic crises have always happened, the difference for a country is between having good and poor economic managers: ‘For the poor economic managers, even with the little winds they are knocked out flat’. He further stressed that ‘government needs to focus on the things that can be done internally because that is under their control.’

Simply put Dr. Musokotwane framed the situation in the following terms: ‘Last time round it was like a mechanic was offering to make you a suit… This time round an economic manager is saying I’m going to deliver this.’