The 2027 budget has cleared Cabinet and goes to the National Assembly on Friday 6 November. The Times of Zambia and News Diggers both reported on Wednesday 4 November that the Chief Government Spokesperson, Elvis Nkandu, announced the approval in a statement on Tuesday, after what the Times described as the third Cabinet meeting of President Hakainde Hichilema's second term, chaired at State House on Friday 30 October.
According to News Diggers, the statement said Cabinet had found the country on a positive economic trajectory, that sustained macroeconomic stability is critical to the Grow Zambia Agenda, and that ministers had called for prudent fiscal management in 2027. Neither outlet's report carried budget figures; those come on Friday. The Times added that Cabinet also approved Zambia's signature of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with the United Arab Emirates, together with an implementation, import-surveillance and periodic review mechanism for the agreement.
'Spending ahead of time'
The Finance and National Planning Minister, Situmbeko Musokotwane, gave MPs a preview of the budget's logic on Tuesday 3 November, News Diggers reported, during the adoption of the Budget Committee's report on the amended 2026 Annual Borrowing Plan. He said the government is spending in 2026 to reduce the cost of food security in 2027, because a drought is forecast for next year, and that the 2027 budget will give the Food Reserve Agency little from the Treasury since the agency's maize sales should pay for its next purchases.
There will not be a third request for a supplementary budget.
— Situmbeko Musokotwane, Minister of Finance and National Planning, in the National Assembly on Tuesday 3 November, as reported by News Diggers
He also said, according to the same report, that the cost of the five new ministries could be absorbed without additional recruitment, that concessional borrowing is prioritised as the cheapest option but that such sources are limited, and that external borrowing carries foreign exchange risk.
The K19.9 billion behind the remarks
The second supplementary budget of 2026, presented on Thursday 22 October, explains why the minister is talking about maize. Zambia Monitor reported that the Supplementary Estimates of Expenditure No. 2 total K19.9 billion, of which K15.8 billion, or 79 per cent, goes to agriculture: K14.7 billion to pay farmers who supplied maize to the Food Reserve Agency, which bought 2.7 million tonnes this year against a target of 500,000 tonnes, and K1.1 billion for the Farmer Input Support Programme. Smaller items were K1.3 billion for the Ministry of Finance, including K1 billion in Asycuda processing fees remitted to the Zambia Revenue Authority, K540 million for the Higher Education Loans and Scholarship Board, K422.5 million for defence and a K300 million contingency vote. The financing was listed as K18 billion in domestic borrowing, K1.3 billion in additional revenue, K510.8 million in donor funds and smaller savings.
The numbers so far
- K19.9 billion — second supplementary budget of 2026, presented 22 October
- K14.7 billion — of that, arrears to farmers who sold maize to the FRA
- 2.7 million tonnes — FRA purchases in 2026, against a 500,000-tonne target
- K18 billion — of the supplementary financed by domestic borrowing
- Friday 6 November — 2027 budget presented to the National Assembly
The budget arrives in the week Moody's moved Zambia's rating from Caa2 to Caa1, a step that economists quoted by News Diggers on Wednesday read as a sign of creditor confidence while noting the rating remains in speculative territory, and the Cabinet statement's language about stability and prudence will be read against that. What the figures on Friday have to reconcile is a farm sector owed billions, a drought the government says it is already paying to pre-empt, and a stated preference for borrowing only where it is cheapest.
Sources: Times of Zambia, “Cabinet nods 2027 National Budget” (4 Nov 2026); News Diggers, “Cabinet approves 2027 National Budget” (4 Nov 2026); News Diggers, “We're spending ahead of time to prepare for drought – Musokotwane” (4 Nov 2026); Zambia Monitor, “Zambian govt seeks to spend additional K19.9 billion, presents supplementary budget” (22 Oct 2026); News Diggers, “Moody's upgrade shows creditors trust govt to manage finances – economist” (4 Nov 2026).