Recovery expected as agro sector rebounds

BUUMBA CHIMBULU writes ZAMBIA’S economy is expected to record a sharp recovery next year due to a rebound in agro-sector production following a relatively better rain season in the 2019/2020 planting season, Zanaco has predicted. This is after projections are indicating that Zambia’s economic growth for this year will be the slowest the country has […]

Recovery expected as agro sector rebounds
BUUMBA CHIMBULU writes ZAMBIA’S economy is expected to record a sharp recovery next year due to a rebound in agro-sector production following a relatively better rain season in the 2019/2020 planting season, Zanaco has predicted. This is after projections are indicating that Zambia’s economic growth for this year will be the slowest the country has recorded in 22 years. The Bank expects a sharp recovery as the economy was projected to post a growth of 2.8 percent in 2021 and 3.3 percent in 2022, Zanaco indicated in its recently released Quarterly Economic Outlook report. “Zanaco’ s 2020 growth projections are more optimistic than those by IMF who are projecting that the Zambian economy will shrink by 3.5 percent while the Bloomberg consensus is even more optimistic than we are with a projection of 2.0 percent. “Our optimism stems from a number of factors, such as the projected rebound in agro-sector production following a relatively better rain season in the 2019/2020 planting season,” Zanaco said. The Bank also mentioned that it was banking on stable power supply with the coming on board of the 750 Kafue lower hydroelectric plant expected to be completed by the third quarter of this year. The project, Zanaco explained, would significantly help to mitigate power shortages that the country had faced in the last two years. “Furthermore, the recent stimulus packages being mooted by the governments across the world will help to prop-up demand for commodities and hence their prices with positive implications for commodity exporters like Zambia. “For example, copper prices have discovered their positive trend again after touching lows of US$ 4,400 per tonne and are now trading above US$5300.00 and we expect them to rise even higher as more countries ease lockdowns,” Zanaco said. The Bank however indicated that its projections still carried significant downside risks. The Sun