Chiluba upbeat on economy

Zambian President Frederick Chiluba on Saturday delivered an upbeat assessment on the prospects for the economy this year, news reports said.

In a speech marking 35 years of independence, Chiluba said Zambia’s real gross domestic product was on course to expand by 4 percent in 1999 from a negative 1.9 percent growth in 1998. He forecast that inflation would fall to around 20 percent compared to last year’s 30 percent - but still above the government’s 15 percent target.

“A brighter global economic outlook, support from our cooperating partners, our consistence with attractive economic policies have combined to turn the poor performance of 1998,” Chiluba reportedly said.