Thu, 22 Jun 2017 10:47:16 +0000 By OSCAR MALIPENGA PRESIDENT Lungu has expressed concern that the gap between the poor and the rich remains wide and has urged Zambians to work together to reduce the unacceptable income disparity. He said rural poverty remains as high as 76.6 percent and the unemployment rate is 7.4 percent and that this was unacceptable. Speaking when he launched the Seventh National Development Plan (7NDP) in Lusaka yesterday, the Head of State noted that he would ensure that further planned interventions help bridge the gap. The Head of State said the projected resource envelope for the plan period is estimated at K342.3 billion, averaging K68.5 billion annually. He said cooperating partners would be expected to contribute at least K12.6 billion which would help ease pressure on the national Treasury. “The fiscal deficit is, therefore, expected to close at 1.4 percent of Gross Domestic Product by 2021,” he said. He noted […]
