Zambia’s President Edgar Lungu has fired the country’s finance minister and replaced her with the deputy governor of the central bank, Bwalya Ng’andu.
No reasons for the dismissal of Margaret Mwanakatwe were given in the announcement that was made on Sunday evening.
Mr Lungu simply thanked Ms Mwanakatwe for her services and wished her well in her future endeavours.
Recently, Zambia has been grappling with increasing debt levels.
The country’s foreign debt has more than doubled since 2014, and servicing costs are forecast to rise by 90% this year, Bloomberg news agency reports..
Credit-ratings agency Moody’s, last month cut its rating of Zambia’s debt further into junk territory, citing a rising probability of default, adds Bloomberg.