EU gives US $100 million

The European Union is to give Zambia US $100 million to implement its economic reform programme under an agreement signed in Lusaka on Monday. The grant, one of the largest single EU grants ever made to an African country, will also be used as a contribution to Zambia’s external financing gap for 2000-2001 to support the domestic budget and domestic debt reduction. The money will be disbursed in five tranches between November and December 2001. EU head of delegation in Zambia, Jochen Krebs, said that a specific amount had also been reserved for technical assistance and capacity building for evaluation, monitoring and audit of domestic debt management and the development of budget and financial management information systems. “This substantial grant is an important contribution towards enabling government to build confidence and fulfil its role in the implementation of the poverty reduction plan,” he said.