Zambia’s Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane asked parliament on 22 October to approve a second supplementary budget for 2026 worth about $990 million, three-quarters of it to pay farmers who sold maize to the state Food Reserve Agency (FRA). The agency bought 2.7 million tonnes this year against a target of 500,000 tonnes, as a bumper harvest met a state price well above private buyers’ offers. The government will raise about $890 million of the extra spending by borrowing on the domestic market, while building grain reserves before an expected El Niño drought in 2027. The stockpile protects food supply, but financing it with local debt increases the state’s draw on domestic savings and its interest bill.
Sources
- Times of Zambia: https://times.co.zm/k19-9bn-supplementary-budget-presented/
- Zambia Monitor: https://www.zambiamonitor.com/zambian-govt-seeks-to-spend-additional-k19-9-billion-presents-supplementary-budget/
- Agence Ecofin: https://www.ecofinagency.com/news-agriculture/2310-60050-zambia-seeks-to-shield-food-supplies-from-potential-el-nino-drought