By Derrick Silimina
Zambia has endorsed the nomination of International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva to serve a second term of office, starting on 1st October, 2024.
In a statement, Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane said Georgieva has done so much for low income countries like Zambia while balancing the needs of emerging and developed economies.
“Under her leadership, the IMF has held Zambia’s hand during difficult times such as at the height of the Covid-19 crisis when a grant of $1.3 billion from the general allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) equivalent was given to Zambia to address the need for resilience and stability of the economy. Together with the help of other partners, the IMF grant helped us to cope with the impact of the COVID-19 crisis,” Dr. Musokotwane said.
He added that on 31st August, 2022, the IMF, under the leadership of GEORGIEVA, also approved the on-going $1.3 billion Extended Credit Facility for the period 2022 to 2025. The facility is helping to strengthen and sharpen the focus of Zambia’s economic transformation programme.
The Finance Minister stressed that evidently, GEORGIEVA has shown outstanding leadership in mobilizing international support to recognise and help countries that are faced with debt challenges, such as Zambia, partly caused by the Covid-19 Pandemic and poor fiscal discipline in the past.
“During her tenure, the IMF has worked tirelessly to help Zambia and other countries to restore their debt challenges and we commend her for the effort. Ms. GEORGIEVA fully deserves a second-term.”
