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The country , which is Africa's second-biggest copper producer,
has suffered from the steep commodity price drop of recent
years. Last March, it began talks with the IMF about a potential
loan package after agreeing that its budget deficit was not
sustainable.
"The engagement with the fund is pretty advanced. We have
addressed most of the structural issues and agreed to them,"
Finance Permanent Secretary Mukuli Chikuba said during the
launch of a mid-year economic report.
"The work that is remaining with the IMF includes spending plans
for the rest of 2017. We will resume engagement with the fund in
October and hope to get board approval by December."
The IMF said in June it may grant Zambia up to $1.3 billion in a
three-year credit facility to help plug a budget deficit of
around 7 percent.
But it said Zambia needed to take concrete steps to achieve
fiscal consolidation targets outlined in the 2017 budget which
include improving revenue collection, limiting borrowing and
scaling back on new capital projects.
Zambia's economy will grow by 5.0 percent in 2018, 5.1 percent
in 2019 and 6.1 percent in 2020, up from 4.3 percent in 2017,
the ministry of finance said.
(Reporting by Chris Mfula; Editing and graphic by Jeremy Gaunt)
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