
Zambia says Afreximbank loan is commercial and will be restructured
"We are still negotiating with them. The debt will be restructured," Secretary to the Treasury Felix Nkulukusa told Reuters in Lusaka in response to a question on the status of Zambia's loan with Afreximbank.
"It's not a concessional loan, it's a commercial loan."
The African lender has said it is a multilateral institution which, like the IMF and the World Bank, is exempt from taking losses when countries default.
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Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
Labour's hopes of a building boom are fading
The Government's entire economic strategy can be summed up in one phrase: planning reform. This is front and centre of every response to poor GDP figures, in every speech on the economy and high up in any list of government 'achievements'. It doesn't seem to matter that taxes on business have gone up massively and employment regulation is about to do the same. That is all fine because of planning reform. In her Spring Statement for instance, the Chancellor stated that these reforms would mean the Government was now 'within touching distance of delivering our manifesto promise to build 1.5 million homes in England in this Parliament'. The result of all this housebuilding would be, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), an increase in GDP worth 'an additional £3.4bn' by 2029/30. Delivering this level of housebuilding is therefore crucial to the Government's economic and political success. The early signs are not good, and this should be a major cause for concern in the Treasury. First, the OBR's assumptions for this economic impact are nothing short of heroic. They state that net additions to the housing stock will increase from 192,000 this year to 305,000 by 2029/30. A near-60pc increase and a 40-year high in terms of net additions. They are also forecasting a booming property market with transactions rising from 1m in 2023 to 1.472m in 2029. Turnover rate in the housing market will apparently rise to 4.58pc by 2029. Other than the Covid market surge in 2021 – when stamp duty was eased – that would be the highest annual turnover rate in 20 years. No one in the industry thinks these forecasts are realistic. And for good reason. The Home Builders Federation's recent housing pipeline report shows that the number of residential planning approvals actually fell by 37pc during the first quarter of 2025. The 50,610 units that these approvals will deliver was the lowest quarterly figure in nearly 12 years. In certain key regions things are even worse. Data from Molior shows that in London, where Labour has been in charge for years, just over 2,000 private homes began construction during the first half of this year. That is just 4.9pc of the Government's 44,000 half-year target. It could be fairly argued that the Government's planning reforms have yet to kick in. The OBR says most of the increase will happen from 2026/27. But things do not look good on that front either. Molior is forecasting that London will deliver just over 5pc of the 176,000 homes that the Mayor is targeting over the next two years. And if that were replicated across the country it would be nothing short of disastrous. If things continue along at the sort of rate we've seen since Labour came to power, rather than that which is currently in the OBR forecast, it will only be a matter of time before they look again at the numbers. They do in fact warn that their projections for housebuilding contain 'several significant uncertainties' including constraints within the sector and local opposition to the reforms. To that they should add other government policies because since these reforms were announced ministers have done everything they can to hamper them. They've already watered down some of their plans in the face of backbench opposition so environmental and nature campaigners will still be able to easily block new developments. Any hope that Government backed affordable housing would help reach the target have been ended after the Spring Statement confirmed most of the £39bn trumpeted for this programme is back loaded into the next parliament. There's actually less money for affordable housing in the next crucial few years. Added to all of this, the Government is actively making it more expensive to build new homes. New levies, inherited from the previous Government, will add a few thousand pounds to the cost of each new home. And Treasury officials have managed to slip through a massive increase to the landfill tax, something the previous government rejected, that will halt many brownfield developments in their tracks. So unless we see some new, additional and radical planning reforms for the OBR to take into account, at some point they will revise down the number of net additions they are currently forecasting. At which point the Government won't have an economic strategy left. The minor planning reforms they have half implemented will count for nothing. Instead of a housebuilding boom that delivers the economic growth that the Chancellor has promised, we are going to see the sector limp along like the rest of the economy because this Government simply doesn't understand that tax and regulation matter.


Reuters
9 hours ago
- Reuters
Rwanda, Congo agree on outline for economic framework as part of peace deal
WASHINGTON/PARIS, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday agreed on an outline for the regional economic integration framework, according to the U.S. State Department, as the two countries take steps toward delivering on a peace deal signed in Washington last month. The tenets agreed on Friday summarize the framework, which includes elements of cooperation on energy, infrastructure, mineral supply chains, national parks and public health, the State Department said in a statement. Rwanda and Congo signed a peace deal in Washington in June at talks held by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, which aims to bring an end to fighting that has killed thousands and attract billions of dollars of Western investment to a region rich in tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper, lithium and other minerals. As part of the deal, Kinshasa and Kigali agreed to launch a regional economic integration framework within 90 days, the agreement said. A source familiar with the matter said a preliminary draft of the framework has been agreed to and there would now be an input period to get reaction from the private sector and civil society before it is finalized. The framework is planned to be signed at a meeting of heads of state at the White House. No date has been set yet for that meeting, the source said. In the Friday statement, Rwanda and Congo affirmed that each country has "full, sovereign control" over the exploitation, processing and export of its natural resources and recognized the importance of developing mineral processing and transformation capacity within each country, according to a copy seen by Reuters. Kinshasa views the plundering of its mineral wealth as a key driver of the conflict between its forces and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in eastern Congo. Reuters reported in May that Congolese minerals such as tungsten, tantalum and tin, which Kinshasa has long accused neighbouring Rwanda of illegally exploiting, could be exported legitimately to Rwanda for processing under the terms of the deal being negotiated by the U.S., according to sources. The two countries are committed to ensuring that the minerals trade no longer provides funding to armed groups and to create a world-class industrial mining sector in the region, as well as to ensure better cross-border interoperability on mineral supply chains, according to the statement. They also agreed to connect new infrastructure to the U.S.-backed Lobito Corridor, underscoring Washington's aim of greater access to resources in the region and efforts to counter China. The Ruzizi III hydropower project and Lake Kivu methane exploitation were the only specific projects mentioned in the statement, despite U.S. emphasis on critical minerals. The countries said they intended to prioritize financing for Ruzizi and work together to exploit the methane gas sustainably. Friday's announcement comes after the two countries held the first meeting of a joint oversight committee on Thursday in a step toward implementing the Washington peace deal even as other commitments are yet to be fulfilled. In the Washington agreement, the two African countries pledged to implement a 2024 deal that would see Rwandan troops withdraw from eastern Congo within 90 days. Congolese military operations targeting the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Congo-based armed group that includes remnants of Rwanda's former army and militias that carried out a 1994 genocide, are meant to conclude over the same timeframe. The deal also said Congo and Rwanda would form a joint security coordination mechanism within 30 days and implement a plan agreed last year to monitor and verify the withdrawal of Rwandan soldiers within three months. But 30 days from the signing has passed without a meeting of the joint security coordination mechanism. The source familiar with the matter said the joint security coordination mechanism meeting would be held on August 7 in Addis Ababa. Congo is also involved in direct talks with M23 hosted by Qatar, and last month the two sides pledged to sign a separate peace agreement by August 18, though many outstanding details need to be negotiated.


Reuters
9 hours ago
- Reuters
IMF lowers bar for Argentina reserves accumulation, next review due after local October elections
NEW YORK, Aug 1 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund lowered the bar for Argentina's reserve accumulation targets through 2026 in its $20 billion program and removed a review that was due before the country's October legislative elections as detailed in a report published Friday. Net international reserves accumulation targets were lowered through 2026, leading to a steeper accumulation curve as the 2027 target was kept in place. "The NIR accumulation target for end-December 2025 has been lowered to mainly reflect the initial shortfalls, which are gradually being addressed through the agreed corrective actions," the report said. The announcement came a day after the IMF board completed the first review of the $20 billion program approved in April. Disbursements of around $14 billion have been made for Argentina so far as part of this new program. "While early efforts to re-access international capital markets are commendable, Argentina's capacity to repay its Fund obligations remains subject to exceptional risks and continues to hinge on strong policy implementation to improve reserve coverage and sustain market access (at more favorable terms) by the time repayments to the Fund come due," said the report from IMF staff.