The IMF agrees at the staff level to give Zambia $185.5 million to help with its economic problems

The IMF has agreed to give Zambia $185.5 million to help it deal with economic problems, such as drought.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Monday that it had made a staff-level agreement for the fourth review of Zambia’s loan program. If approved by the IMF’s management and executive board, the Zambian government will receive about $185.5 million.

This deal was made after an IMF trip to Zambia from October 2–15 and talks at the annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank in Washington, D.C.

The IMF’s report on Zambia’s economy showed that the country is still having problems, mostly because of the terrible drought. These weather problems have caused a big drop in agriculture output and have caused widespread power outages, which have slowed down the economy even more. Instead of expecting 2.3% growth in 2024, the IMF now thinks it will only be 1.2%. This is a big drop from their original prediction in June.

Zambia is also having trouble with growth because inflation has risen sharply and reached 15.7% in October. Food prices going up and the value of the Zambian kwacha going down are the main reasons for this rise in inflation, which is well above the country’s goal inflation range of 6-8%. Zambian families are already having a hard time because of high food prices and a tough economic climate. These new economic problems are making things even worse.

Even with these problems, the deal at the staff level is good news for Zambia because it means the IMF will continue to help the country stabilize its economy. The $185.5 million release is expected to help Zambia’s economy rebound in a bigger way and give people some relief.

The IMF’s continued support for Zambia shows how important the country is to the economic security of the region. It also shows how hard it is for many countries to deal with shocks caused by climate change and the unstable global economy. The IMF’s future talks with Zambia’s government will be very important in figuring out how well the country can get through these economic problems and rebound in the years to come.