Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) Spokesperson Antonio Mwanza says government under the PF leadership is killing the future generation with the enormous debt-trap it has accrued from the time it assumed power.

And Mwanza says government corruption and general mismanagement of resources will cause investors to lose confidence and begin to doubt its ability to repay debts.

Responding to a press query from News Diggers! which response he posted on his Facebook page, Mwanza noted that Zambia’s future economy would be diminished, with fewer economic opportunities for individuals and families, and less fiscal flexibility to respond to future crises.

“The PF Government is killing the future of our children with the enormous debt-trap that they have put our country into and their mismanagement of the country’s economy. What is more worrying about this whole situation is not just the ballooning debt levels we are witnessing but the imprudent use of the debt money, the high fiscal indiscipline and the sheer incompetence of the government to effectively manage the economy, eradicate poverty, create decent jobs and open business opportunities for our people, especially the women and youths,” Mwanza said.

“This Government cannot account for the huge debt that they have accrued since coming into office in 2011. It is clear that the bulk of the debt money has been squandered through corruption, over-pricing of projects, embezzlement, misapplication of funds and sheer incompetence on the part on the state to effectively and efficiently apply national resources to the productive sectors of our economy in order to spur growth and reduce the high poverty levels, destitution and squalor among our people.”

Mwanza noted that the impact of the debts would be devastating for the country as government would then be forced to cut down on social and economic expenditure to finance the debt-trap.

“The full ramification of the debt-trap the PF has plunged this country into are yet to be felt since most of these debts have not yet matured. The impact of these debts will be devastating as government shall be forced to cut down on social and economic expenditure to finance the debt most of which was contracted at very high interest rates,” he said.

Mwanza observed that: “The long-term fiscal challenges remain unaddressed, our economic environment will weaken further as confidence will continue to suffer, access to capital will continue to shrink, the interest costs will continue crowding out key investments in our future, leading to conditions for growth to deteriorate, hence putting our nation at greater risk of economic crisis. If our long-term fiscal imbalance is not addressed, our future economy will be diminished, with fewer economic opportunities for individuals and families, and less fiscal flexibility to respond to future crises.”

“As the national debt increases, the government will spend more of its budget on interest costs, increasingly crowding out public investments and the more that resources are diverted to interest payments, the less that will be available for the government to invest in areas such as education, agriculture, energy, processing and manufacturing that are important to economic growth. This will eventually lead to more joblessness, more energy deficits, more youths forced out of the education system owing to high tuition fees, more sick children due to malnutrition, high mortality rates and generally high poverty levels across the country,” he said.

And Mwanza said government corruption and general mismanagement of resources would cause investors to begin doubting its ability to repay debts.

“Investors are beginning to doubt government’s ability to repay debt and could demand even higher interest rates, further raising the cost of borrowing for businesses and households. Over time, lower confidence and reduced investment would slow the growth of productivity and wages of our workers. Growing long-term debt also has a direct, real world effect on the economic opportunities available to every Zambian. In short, the PF has mortgaged our country to shy-locks due to incompetence, theft of public resources, corruption and general mismanagement of our country’s economy. Mutati’s economics is not working and Zambians must brace themselves for harder economic times,” Mwanza said.

Meanwhile Mwanza says government under PF will continue silencing critical voices responsible for the provision of checks and balances on governance issues to cover up its flaws.

“As the economy continues to slide and people’s lives become harder, the PF will resort to more oppressive tactics to silence the opposition, dissenting voices, the church as well as independent media in order to stifle debate and send terror in the spines citizens, gagging them from voicing their discontent at a regime that has caused so much suffering,” said Mwanza.