IMF Backs Zambia’s New Tax Regime on Mining Profits

Zambia’s new mining tax regime is in line with international standards, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s alternate executive director, Miranda Xafa, who is leading a team of directors on a study of the economic performance in Zambia.

Speaking Tuesday in Lusaka, Xafa said the new tax changes were in order, adding that “before the government introduced changes in the mine taxes, Zambia was the lowest taxing country.”

She said this in an interview shortly after members of the IMF board toured Albidon Zambia’s Munali Nickel Mine in Mazabuka, south of Lusaka.

She said the Zambian government must ensure mines continued to be profitable and that the new taxes should not constrain investment in the sector.

She said this was a specific area, which the government must focus on when implementing the new taxes.

On Munali Nickel Mine, Xafa said investment in the mine indicated that Zambia’s economy was transforming rapidly.

She said the Zambian government must address the power deficit to ensure continued productivity in the mining and manufacturing sectors. “There is need to provide electricity not only for manufacturing industries but for households as well,” she added.

Albidon Zambia general manager for corporate affairs, Sixtus Mulenga, said government’s fiscal and economic policies had enabled investment in the Munali Nickel Mine. He paid tribute to the IMF for helping government to create an enabling environment for economic development.

Source African Press Agency

Net News Publisher