Record Zambian Corn Crop May Prove Bad News for Bondholders
- President Edgar Lungu is seeking re-election in August
- The IMF has criticized Zambia’s agricultural subsidies
Workers pack corn into bags on a farm on the outskirts of Lusaka, Zambia.
Photographer: Jean-Claude Coutausse/Bloomberg
This article is for subscribers only.
Zambia announced a record corn harvest that may help President Edgar Lungu’s re-election bid. The bumper crop may also push the state to buy more stock with dwindling finances, hurting chances for a long-awaited International Monetary Fund deal.
Farmers produced 3.62 million metric tons of the southern African nation’s staple food in the 2020-21 season, Agriculture Minister Michael Katambo told reporters Wednesday in Lusaka, the capital. That could lead to lower food prices that often favor the incumbent government, according to Nkandu Mwenge, a commodity analyst at The Briefcase Trader.