A bit dated but still important. BBC reports evidently suppressed.
Refusing windfall tax is an injustice – Sardanis
By Joe Kaunda and Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
The Post Online, 12 November 2010
Andrew Sardanis has described the government's refusal to reinstate the windfall tax regime in the mining sector as an injustice to the country.
And economic consultant Bob Sichinga has advised opposition political parties to make the issue of restoring windfall tax a campaign issue in next year's general elections.
In an interview, Sardanis who presided over negotiations during the nationalisation of the mines under the Kenneth Kaunda administration, said he was appalled to learn that government was only getting 2.6 per cent in revenue from the exports of copper that stood at US$2.9 billion despite the huge boom in metal prices.
“…in other words a total tax of only 2.6 per cent of total revenue. When the mines were bought by the current owners, the copper prices stood around US $1,500 per tonne, but the price has shot up to the current over US $8,500,” Sardanis observed.
