KWACHA TO REMAIN STABLE – MINISTER

Wed, 09 Aug 2017 13:06:18 +0000

By Michael Miyoba

GOVERNMENT is working hard to reduce lending rates to make it easy for Zambians to borrow from financial institutions.

According to a bank official the Ministry of Finance will continue working closely with the Bank of Zambia in reducing the cost of doing business in Zambia.

The bank has assured the business community of a stable economy and urged foreign investors willing to invest in Zambia to take advantage of the country’s favourable investment climate to actualize their plans.

The Ministry of Finance also announced that the Kwacha will remain stable for the rest of 2017 and urged the business community to maximize on the country’s economic gains to grow their enterprises.

The interest rates have also come down and the Bank of Zambia is taking necessary measures to further bring down interest rates and we are also taking our own measures as a ministry.

Meanwhile, the Bank of Zambia (BOZ) has announced that there will be a monetary policy announcement and press briefing tomorrow at the BOZ.

And the Energy Regulation Board (ERB) announced a 6.7 percent average pump price cut as a result of the depressed international crude prices.

The Zambia Business Times (ZBT) reported that the ERB Cost plus Pricing Methodology has focused on the January to June period when crude had hit an all-time low of $46.7 per barrel.

This with reference to the Kwacha that traded for K9/USD then yields an import effect that exceeds the 2.5% trigger threshold for justification of an adjustment.

The last time ERB effected a price cut was in January.