LUSAKA, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- A Zambian minister on Friday advised the government to work on ensuring fiscal discipline in managing public resources in order to secure a bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Zambian Minister of Finance Margaret Mwanakatwe recently directed officials in her ministry to clean up all the required data sets in preparations for the forthcoming Article IV consultation in which economists from the IMF will assess financial developments and discuss the country's policies by the end of the current fiscal quarter.

She further urged the officials to ensure a well-structured engagement strategy with the international lender.

But according to the Center for Trade Policy and Development, a local think tank, the elusive IMF bail package is possible only if the government considers fiscal discipline and spend the aid properly.

Isaac Mwaipopo, executive director of the think tank said the country needs to design a debt repayment strategy which is specific about the amounts of money to be repaid, adding that implementing such a strategy would also require prudent financial management.

"This (repayment strategy) would entail responsible use of resources, hedging against corruption, over-pricing, abuse of office and strengthening the arms of government institutions that were mandated to offer the checks and balances," he said in a release.

Mwaipopo added that a deal with the IMF would be a mark of faith in Zambian economy, which would allow the country to benefit from increased foreign direct investment, donor funding and also pave the way for refinancing its Eurobond debts at a lower cost.

The think tank hopes the talks around a possible package would be concluded in the course of 2019.