Measures Taken To Address Economic Decline 30. The State party’s economic reform programs recognise the need to diversify and expand the economic base, and increase agricultural production. Since 1992, the State party has initiated a series of ambitious market-orientated reforms aimed at reducing State participation in and control of economic activity. To date a large number (around 300) of State owned enterprises have been commercialized or privatised including the Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM). The privatisation of the ZCCM in March 2000, which proved to be a major political hurdle, improved the climate for private sector investments and helped boost Zambia’s prospects for economic growth. The Zambian economy has begun to show some signs of recovery. 31. Zambia’s economic policy objectives are anchored in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) and the Transitional National Development Plan (TNDP), whose overarching goal is poverty reduction through sustained economic growth and employment creation. In line with this goal, the State party in 2003 set out to pursue policies that were aimed at restoring and preserving macroeconomic stability, promoting efficiency as well as investing in human development. To this end, the State party set to attain the following broad macroeconomic objectives: (a) achieve real GDP growth of at least 4 percent; (b) reduce the average annual inflation rate to 17.9 percent and end-year inflation to 8 percent; (c) build up gross international reserves equivalent to 1.9 months of imports; (d) ensure food security; 32