.Gondwe

By JUDITH NAMUTOWE –

THE Bank of Zambia (BoZ) is optimistic that the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate target of 6.5 per cent for this year will be achieved.
BoZ Governor Michael Gondwe said most benchmarks indicate that the growth target of 6.5 per cent or a higher one would be posted.
Addressing journalists in Lusaka yesterday, Dr Gondwe reiterated BoZ’s commitment to safeguard macroeconomic stability by focusing on the maintenance of price and financial stability and maintaining a flexible exchange rate system.
“We note that the financial sector remains well capitalised, profitable and stable, and the fundamentals of the Zambian economy remain strong,” he said.
He noted that, in the agriculture sector, maize  stock  held by the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) rose by 276.7 per cent  to 1,294,213 tonnes at end September from 343,581.3 tonnes at June 2014.
Rice stocks also rose by 37.6  per cent to 2,097  tonnes. This reflected the domestic purchases by the FRA which, for maize, were higher than the 500,000 metric tonnes allocated in the 2014 Budget. In the construction sector, Dr Gondwe said that the production of cement increased by 29.2 per cent to 401,104  tonnes from 310,383.3 tonnes during the second quarter.
“With respect to the energy sector, electricity generation increased by 1.3 per cent  in the third quarter to 3,554,249 megawatt and on a year to date basis, electricity generation at 10,027,044 megawatt hours, was also 4.4 per cent  higher during the same period in 2013.
In the tourism sector, international passenger arrivals increased by 10.3 per cent in the third quarter to 175,265,”  Dr Gondwe said.
Dr Gondwe announced the increase in the policy rate by 50 basis points to 12.5 per cent to ensure inflation pressures over the third quarter was consolidated into  lower inflation in 2015.
He said the BoZ forecasted that inflation would remain at the current level of 7.9 per cent for the rest of the year and beyond.
Dr Gondwe said that over the third quarter and into the fourth quarter there had been a material deterioration in the external sector relative to conditions existing in August.