EUROPEAN Investment Bank deputy director general Patrick Walsh says Zambia has received the largest assistance from the bank in the Africa Caribbean Pacific Region.

According to a statement issued by Ministry of Finance media and public relations head Chileshe Kandeta, Walsh said this in Luxembourg yesterday when finance minister Felix Mutati attended a workshop dedicated to Zambia on EIB financing in Sub-Saharan Africa.

During the workshop, Walsh revealed that at €407 million, Zambia had received the largest assistance from the bank since 2011.

“Of the total amount given from 2011 to date, €80 million went towards rehabilitation of the Great East Road, €22 million for the Kafue-Livingstone Transmission Line, €50 million for the Itezhi-Tezhi Hydro Power Transmission Line, €75 million for the Zambia Water and Sanitation Project, €78 million for the Lusaka Power Transmission and Distribution Network, and €120 million for the Lusaka Sanitation Project,” Kandeta quoted Walsh as having said.

“Next month, we will send a team of experts to Zambia to engage with the private sector on capacity sharing on project preparation, resource mobilisation, and competitiveness.”

And Mutati said he was glad that European partners had recognized the tough decisions Zambia has made in a bid to revive the economy.

“I am glad that our European partners have recognized the tough decisions which we have taken to secure the country through economic recovery through the removal of subsidies and implementation of measures which facilitate strong public institutions, policy consistence, and fiscal discipline,” Kandeta quoted Mutati as saying.

“We have a President who is a practical leader with a blend of credentials required to maintain socio-economic stability and implement measures which will ensure that we achieve economic recovery.”