Lusaka — VISITING International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Rodrigo de Rato has said the positive growth and stability that has been characterised in African countries vindicates the IMF and World Bank policies as pro-growth.
And de Rato has pledged that the Fund would be flexible enough to allow poor countries invest more in fighting disease which posed a great challenge to the continent.
Speaking on arrival at Lusaka International Airport, de Rato said the IMF could not afford to remain aloof in view of the impact of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases in Africa.
"Just last year, 3.5 million Africans died of HIV/AIDS and other diseases and this translates into huge losses both in terms of human life and economically," he said. "The efficiency in public expenditure that we are aiming at should allow us to spend more on combating disease."
On perceptions that IMF and World Bank economic recovery prescriptions did not serve the poor's interests, de Rato said such views arose from lack of understanding of the two institutions' work. He admitted that whereas some countries have experienced shocks due to following IMF programmes, the shocks resulted from crises that had occurred before the Fund's interventions.
"But the growth rates and economic stability that we are seeing in Africa, the best in 25 years, shows that with prudent management, such programmes can work," de Rato said. "For Zambia, what is needed is continued stability so the country can sustain growth to levels that will reduce poverty."
On debt relief, he said the challenge was for all stakeholders to ensure that beneficiary countries did not revert to unsustainable debt positions.
De Rato said this was why the IMF was urging developed countries to honour their commitment to devote at least 0.7 per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP) to official development assistance. He, however, stressed the need for aid to be predictable, sustainable and harmonised to avert costly delays in implementing development programmes.
On corruption, de Rato said the IMF supported Zambia's crusade against the vice because that was the surest way of ensuring a better future for the country.
De Rato arrived in Lusaka from Equatorial Guinea at 16:00 hours (14:00 hours GMT) aboard a private jet with Fund staff and journalists on a two day visit.
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During his tightly scheduled visit, he will host the business community on Wednesday evening before meeting the civil society on Thursday. He is also scheduled to meet President Mwanawasa and visit an orphanage on Friday.
The meetings have attracted seven ministers of finance, heads of the budgetary committees in the seven countries' parliaments, civil society representatives and journalists.
Besides participating in the roundtable meeting devoted to the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI), de Rato's visit is also part of the Fund's top management's effort to visit as many member states as possible and have a first hand account of what was on the ground.
The aim of the roundtable will be to discuss the challenges that these countries face in making use of donor resources, especially the 100 per cent debt relief extended by the Fund under the MRDI to 19 countries, of which 13 are in sub-Saharan Africa. De Rato would also during the meeting explain the role of the IMF in low-income countries before meeting President Levy Mwanawasa as he concludes his visit.
The trip, which is de Rato's fourth to sub-Saharan Africa since becoming head of the IMF in 2004, will also be an opportunity to discuss the Managing Director's review of the Fund's Medium-Term Strategy with the region's leaders.
The first leg of his visit to Africa started on Monday (March 13) with a visit to Equatorial Guinea, where he attended the regional summit of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) and addressed the Heads of State of the CEMAC region before his arrival in Zambia on Wednesday.
The focus of the CEMAC summit was strengthening regional links in order to promote economic growth.
