LUSAKA, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Zambian government on Friday expressed optimism that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will approve the country's request for financial assistance at the end of this month.
Situmbeko Musokotwane, the Minister of Finance and National Planning, said the government expects the IMF executive board to meet at the end of the month to approve the lending plan after the Official Creditor Committee for Zambia co-chaired by China and France provided financing assurances at their last meeting.
"The creditor committee meeting opened the door for the IMF to provide us money," he said during a symposium on the mid-year budget and economic performance.
The Official Creditor Committee for Zambia met on July 18 and provided financing assurances based on the southern African nation's request for debt treatment under the G20 Common Framework.
Zambia reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF on a 1.4 billion U.S. dollars three-year extended credit facility in December last year.
