BARCLAYS CUTS LENDING RATES BY 1.5%

Tue, 15 Aug 2017 07:52:17 +0000

By Mailesi Banda

BARCLAYS Bank has become the first commercial bank to reduce lending rates by 1.5 percent after the Bank of Zambia announced a reduction in the statutory reserve ratio and the monetary policy rate last week.

Speaking when she made the announcement in Lusaka yesterday, Barclays’ corporate banking director Banja Kayumba said they believed the reduction in rates would have a positive impact on customers as they will be able to access funding from the bank at affordable rates.

Ms.Kayumba said the reduction meant that the bank had reduced interest rates by 4.5 percent this year only, adding that they would continue to support the central bank’s objective of reducing lending rates since lending to key sectors would help stimulate economic growth.

She announced that the bank had in the last few years arranged financing to key economic sectors in excess of K6 Trillion.

“Barclays Bank has continued to make a vital contribution to the growth of the economy by supporting key sectors of the economy such as mining, manufacturing, agriculture and energy where the bank has continued to play a significant financing role,” she said.

Ms Kayumba said the bank was focused towards making a positive contribution in the communities they operated in through shared growth citizenship agenda.

She announced that this year, the bank had invested K7.3 million in community-led initiatives towards supporting people in the area they operated from.

Last Thursday, the Bank of Zambia announced a reduction in the monetary policy rate from 12.5 percent and the statutory reserve ratio from 12.5 to 9.5 to make more liquidity available to commercial banks for lending.