Zambia: Technical Assistance Report-Report on Data Quality Assessment for Public Sector Debt Statistics (September 30–October 4, 2024)

Technical Assistance Reports, March 14, 2025

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Zambia: Technical Assistance Report-Report on Data Quality Assessment for Public Sector Debt Statistics (September 30–October 4, 2024)

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Bibliographic details

• Published: March 14, 2025
• Series: Technical Assistance Reports
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9798229005036.019

Assessment context and background

• The report documents findings and recommendations from the 2024 assessment of the data quality of the public sector debt statistics (PSDS) of the Republic of Zambia against the IMF’s Data Quality Assessment Framework (DQAF) for PSDS.
• The assessment was undertaken as part of a project to strengthen the quality of public sector debt in select African countries, funded by the Government of Japan.
• The December 2023 DSA assessed Zambia’s debt risk as in debt distress.
• Historical context cited: Zambia’s default on its sovereign Eurobonds in 2020 and the accumulation of arrears to both official bilateral and other commercial external creditors.
• Policy and institutional responses by the authorities noted: establishment of the Public Debt Management Act, 2022, and the operationalization of the Debt Management Office.
• Timeframe of mission: September 30–October 4, 2024.

Key findings

• Zambia’s PSDS have improved significantly in the last two years, consistent with a strong and sustained commitment by the government to improve debt data transparency and accountability.
• Strengths identified:
  • Legal framework underpinning compiled and reported PSDS.
  • Institutional arrangements supporting PSDS compilation and reporting.
• Statistical assessment:
  • The disseminated statistics are found to be broadly reliable, transparent, and of good quality.

Recommendations and actionable priorities

• Expand sector coverage beyond the budgetary central government.
• Transparently publish reconciliations of stocks and flows.
• Provide a more detailed breakdown of arrears.
• Make PSDS more widely available in machine readable formats.
  • Suggested dissemination avenues include the National Summary Data Page (NSDP) and the joint IMF-World Bank Quarterly Public Sector Debt statistics database (QPSD).

Subject areas and keywords

• Subject: Economic and financial statistics, External debt, Financial institutions, Government debt management, Government finance statistics, Government securities, Public debt, Public financial management (PFM)
• Keywords: Data Quality Assessment Framework (DQAF), Debt Reporting, Debt Transparency, Government debt management, Government finance statistics, Government securities, IMF executive directors, IMF-World Bank, IMF's Statistics department, JSA, Public Debt, public sector debt statistics, Public Sector Debt Statistics (PSDS), statistics database, Zambia.

Content in this bundle

• Section I. Detailed Assessment and Recommendations
  • Section I. Detailed Assessment and Recommendations (Markdown version)
  • Section I. Detailed Assessment and Recommendations (PDF)