By MAIMBOLWA MULIKELELA –
STANDARD Chartered Bank has said Zambia’s fiscal policy has been consistent and as a result the rates on the market are expected to remain flat in 2014.
This will, however, depend on Government’s decision on borrowing during the year.
Standard Chartered Bank head of consumer banking Sonny Zulu said Government’s policy on borrowing had been very consistent and would be able to see the rates on the market remain flat this year.
Mr Zulu said that would, however, depend on what decisions the Government would be able to make and at what time of the year.
Mr Zulu said during the Real Deal promotion draw in Lusaka yesterday that if the Government decided to borrow from the international market the appetite for borrowing on the local market would actually go down.
If that happened, the rates for Treasury bill would go down and effectively all the rates in the market would drop.
Mr Zulu said that would lead to more resources for the Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (SMEs).
Commenting on the Real Deal promotion, Mr Zulu said the bank had managed to increase its deposit year on year growth of more than 40 per cent of deposits.
He said since the competition started, the bank was able to rise more than US$27 million new deposits, saying that this was a huge achievement.
