Zambia Seeks to Restore Confidence With Budget Amid Crisis
- Lower copper output exacerbates concerns about slowing growth
- Investors to focus on whether IMF advice on wages is followed
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Zambian Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda is seeking to restore confidence in the economy to help reverse the world’s worst currency performance, record borrowing costs and sliding growth. The two things that matter the most to the outlook are the copper price and power supply, which he has little control over.
Chikwanda will present a budget on Friday that will give investors clues on how authorities plan to keep spending in check in the face of plunging copper revenue and the most severe power shortages on record. The government started the year with an estimate for the fiscal shortfall of 4.6 percent of gross domestic product, gradually raising that to 6.9 percent. Barclays Plc is projecting a deficit of 8.4 percent.