The Zambian government informed the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in January 2003 that it wished to renegotiate some of the agreed performance criteria that called for the privatization of national telephone and electricity utilities and of the Zambia National Commercial Bank. This was agreed to but overspending on civil service wages delayed Zambia’s final debt forgiveness from 2003 to 2005.The government drafted an austerity budget for 2004, in an effort to reach HIPC completion. The austerity budget involved an increased number of taxes and the freezing of civil service salaries which sparked nationwide strikes in February 2004.

Privatization of the copper mining industry has greatly improved the industry in Zambia which has historically enjoyed a large copper mining industry. In 1998 the output of copper had fallen to a low of 228,000 metric tons but following the privatization of the industry in 2002, copper production rebounded to 337,000 metric tons. That’s rather a lot of led bulbs!