Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema on Thursday held a phone conversation with World Bank Group President David Malpass, thanking the global lender for its continued support of Zambia.

The Zambian president said he was delighted to speak to the World Bank chief about many other things which included progress the southern African nation was making toward debt reduction.

"To this end, we discussed the importance of speedily completing a memorandum of understanding between Zambia and the official creditors as well as a subsequent agreement with commercial creditors," he said in a post on his Facebook page.

Zambia will remain grateful to the World Bank for its continued support of the government's work toward repairing the economy, creating jobs and reducing the cost of living.

Recently, Situmbeko Musokotwane, the minister of Finance and National Planning, said that the World Bank has committed 959 million U.S. dollars in credit to support Zambia's economic recovery.

He said the funds were meant to help the country recover from multiple debt and economic crises and help to institute reforms for inclusive growth and poverty reduction.