IMF CONFIRMS CONTINUED ENGAGEMENT WITH ZAMBIA AS NEW PROGRAMME TALKS ADVANCE
The International Monetary Fund has confirmed that discussions with Zambia on a new support programme are progressing well, with further negotiations expected to resume after the country’s general election in August.
The update followed an IMF staff mission to Lusaka from 30 April to 13 May. In its readout, the Fund welcomed Zambia’s continued reform momentum, noting the Government’s commitment to anchoring the next programme in sound macroeconomic policies, sustained fiscal discipline, and the protection of social and priority spending. Both sides reaffirmed their shared intention to move swiftly toward a successor arrangement once the electoral period concludes.
The Washington-based lender pointed to the importance of preserving the economic gains Zambia has achieved in recent years, particularly in the context of a busy electoral calendar and a complex global environment. Fiscal conditions in 2026 reflect those wider pressures, with the country’s primary surplus projected at 1.1 per cent of GDP.
Zambia’s last IMF arrangement, which concluded in January, delivered $1.7 billion in disbursements and supported the copper-rich Southern African nation through a complex multi-year debt restructuring process, much of which has now been successfully completed.
Progress on a new programme is expected to reinforce Zambia’s reform agenda and strengthen international confidence in the country’s recovery outlook. President Hakainde Hichilema, who has overseen the restoration of macroeconomic stability and the conclusion of debt restructuring since taking office in 2021, is seeking a second term at the polls on 13 August.