Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda says government is putting in place various measures to ensure mining companies declare correct profits and pay corresponding taxes.

Mr. Chikwanda says the measures include increasing coverage and scope of audits, recruitment of mining engineers in the tax audit team and increasing capacity for officers through specialized training among others.

Speaking during the questions for Oral answer session in parliament this evening, Mr. Chikwanda revealed that the specialized training will focus on complex things such as transfer pricing and use of copper prices on the London Metal Exchange.

Zimbabwe’s tobacco exports are expected to rake in US$660 million this year, a decline from $867 million a year ago.

Government and the Tobacco Industry Marketing Board (TIMB) expect to sell 180 million kilogrammes – a drop from 198,7 million kgs last year – at an average price of US$3,70 per kg.

On the overall, production of the golden leaf is projected to decline 9 percent due to the El Nino weather phenomenon which induced drought and floods in Brazil. Consequently, the prices are likely to fluctuate to the advantage of the farmers.

The new electronic trading platform is also expected to promote an orderly market, which will reduce collusion and chances of buyers conniving on the reduced price of tobacco. TIMB said a total of 57 492 growers have registered for the 2015/16 season.

The 2016 tobacco marketing and selling season, which has been delayed, is likely to open between March 9 and March 16.

(Source of the photo: www.eastobacco.com)

GOVERNMENT will continue to ensure stability of the exchange rate by using appropriate fiscal and monetary instruments while maintaining a fine balance between the use of such instruments and growth objectives, Minister of Finance Alexander Chikwanda has said.

In ensuring exchange rate stability, Mr Chikwanda said the Bank of Zambia (BoZ) has tightened monetary policy and has been selling foreign exchange to the market, which has led to a relative stability of the currency observed since November, 2015.

On inflation, Mr Chikwanda attributed the higher inflation, which stood at 21.1 percent in December 2015, to the pass-through effects of the sharp depreciation of the Kwacha in the third quarter of 2015 coupled with the high production costs which were induced by power rationing.

In a bid to improve liquidity in the economy, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has increased the threshold of foreign investors overall ownership on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange to 49 percent from 40 percent while the single investor limit has been increased to 15 percent from 10 percent.

The central bank will also introduce an open tender system in the trading of Government securities.

Government is issuing Treasury Bills to fund recurrent expenditure and to pay off state-owned company debts. The move comes after calls for Government to open the TBs to foreign investors who may want to expose themselves to the risk.

The Real Time Gross Settlement System platform is also being upgraded to handle other currencies.

DEPUTY Minister of Agriculture Maxas Ng’onga says the country will have good maize yields in six provinces despite the devastating drought that has hit some parts of the country.

Mr Ng’onga said in an interview in Lusaka on Monday that good maize yields are expected in Luapula, Central, Northern, Muchinga, Copperbelt and Eastern Provinces. Mr Ng’onga assured farmers that Government has a good plan to ensure that no one starves, including people in drought-prone areas.

“Zambians should not panic, nobody will starve or die of hunger. Government will ensure that the food stocks in the country are not sold outside the country,’’ Mr Ng’onga said.