By Mulenga Banda –
Visiting International Monetary Fund (IMF) Deputy Managing Director, Antoinette Monsio Sayeh has spoken of the need for Zambia to engage in its reform program on human capital through free education.
Sayeh was speaking She met with the Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema at the State House, Lusaka.
Hichilema, after the visit said he discussed a number of issues with his guest such as the conflict in Ukraine, and it’s global impacts.
“This afternoon we met with International Monetary Fund (IMF) Deputy Managing Director Antoinette Monsio Sayeh at State House.
“We discussed recent global developments such as the conflict in Ukraine and its global impacts, while also emphasising the importance of taking action to limit the risk of food shortages and mitigating the impact on prices for commodities, such as oil and fertiliser.
‘Ms. Sayeh noted that the IMF is thrilled to be engaging with Zambia and eager to support our ambitious reform programme, with an emphasis on promoting our human capital through free education.
“We recognised the support from the Fund through the Special Drawing Rights allocation of US$1.33 billion, part of which has been put towards supporting our social sector expenditure in the 2022 budget.
“The talks were fruitful and centred on ensuring growth remains positive and that social sector expenditure is sustained and scaled up”, the President concludes.