Zambia denies hiding foreign debt figures

LUSAKA, April 13 (Xinhua) -- The Zambian government on Friday denied reports that it was not being honest with the true foreign debt figure the country owes.

Last week, reports in the international media said the southern African nation's foreign debt obligation was higher than the government figure of 8.7 billion U.S. dollars as at end of December 2017, a 26-percent increase from the previous year.

But Chief Government Spokesperson Dora Siliya defended the figure released by the finance ministry last week, saying there was no way the government could be hiding its foreign debt.

She told reporters during a weekly briefing that the government was being sincere.

"It is not in the interest of the people of Zambia not to be able to put out correct information. So when we release information, it means that is the debt we have contracted," she said. Enditem