Zambia will wait until after its general elections in August to finalise talks with the International Monetary Fund on a new economic program, Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane has said.

Musokotwane told reporters in Cape Town on Tuesday that discussions for a new deal with the Washington-based lender will start “almost immediately” following the conclusion of the previous program in January, but the election year will postpone the agreement’s completion, Bloomberg reports.

“The conclusion of the negotiations will have to be after the elections. The IMF would like to negotiate with a government that has time to implement what has been negotiated,” Musokotwane said.

Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema is running for a second term in the upcoming elections. When he assumed office in 2021, he inherited a government that had defaulted on its debt and promptly secured an IMF program to support an extensive public debt restructuring.

With the economy now on a steadier footing, the next IMF program is expected to prioritise economic growth and job creation. Indeed, last month, Musokotwane underscored that creating jobs for Zambia’s youth will be a central focus.

Whereas a new agreement would help manage government spending and revenue, strengthening investor confidence in the southern African country, according to Mutisunge Zulu, chief risk officer at Zambia National Commercial Bank Plc, the nation’s largest bank by market value.

Furthermore, Zambia, Africa’s second-largest copper producer, is aiming for its smallest budget deficit since 2011, benefiting from copper prices that surged over 40% last year.

Mining contributes around a quarter of the country’s total revenue, with copper alone accounting for more than 70% of export earnings.