LUSAKA, Dec 18 (AFP) - The HIV/AIDS epidemic and a severe drought have placed a heavy burden on Zambia's efforts to restore economic prosperity, an official from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Wednesday.
"Dealing with the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic is a very heavy burden," said Robert Sharer, IMF assistant director for southern Africa.
He was speaking at the end of an official visit to review progress by the Zambian government over the past three years to improve the country's economic performance.
An estimated one in five adults are infected with HIV, making it one of the worst countries in the world to be hit by AIDS.
On the contentious issue of privatisation, Sharer said it was the Zambian government that had first proposed privatising three major state-run companies.
"The IMF supports the government plan to privatise and so far we have not been informed of any change of policy," he said.
Two weeks ago, Zambian lawmakers passed a resolution to halt the government's intention to privatise three state-run companies on the basis that privatisation leads to job losses.
The three companies include Zambia's biggest telecommmunications company, Zamtel, a power supply company Zesco and the Zambia National Commercial Bank.
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