CSOs seek 60 p.c debt cancellation

By SENIYA BANDAGovernment should consider pushing for debt cancellation of about 60 percent as it negotiates Zambia’s debt with multilateral and private creditors¸ the Civil Society Organizations-CSOs Debt Alliance, has said.Alliance chairperson Father Alex Muyebe said in order for Zambia to return to a debt sustainability position, there was need for government to consider pushing for debt cancellation.Fr Muyebe said the alliance believed that debt restructuring would not yield any results due to the huge debt burden that the country had, hence the need to push for a cancellation. He said currently Zambia owed about 42 percent of external debt to private lenders which was unsustainable when restructuring.Meanwhile Fr Muyebe has urged government to ensure that it maintained a healthy Zambia, China relationship as China remained a strategic partner which the country owed a huge debt stock.