By KENNEDY MUPESENI –
THERE is need for  stakeholders to create awareness on the newly introduced Tax Payer’s Identification (TPIN) requirement for bank account holders, Kitwe District Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KDCCI) has said.
The chamber has since arranged a public discussion forum which will be  held  today, where Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) commissioner general Kingsley Chanda will discuss the issue.
KDCCI president Allan Nyirenda said there was an urgent need fore more sensitizations on the TPIN requirement.
“Account holders and the general public need to be informed about the motive behind the TPIN requirement, there are a lot of speculations which can affect the economy if not checked,” Mr Nyirenda said.
Mr Nyirenda  said in an interview that  the chamber had  invited the ZRA commissioner general to shed more light on the new development at today’s forum.
He said he had personally not seen anything wrong with the provision but that more awareness by the implementing authorities was needed.
On the Bank of Zambia (BoZ) ‘s move to adjust its February  policy rate and bank’s reserve ratio from 15.5 to 14 per cent and 18 to 15 per cent respectively, the Kitwe chamber expects a trickle effect on bank interest rates.
“We expect interest rates to significantly reduce because these are some of the factors banks have been attributing to in hiking the cost of borrowing,” Mr Nyirenda said.
He, however, said the business community expected the policy rate to come down to about 10 per cent now that the annual inflation rate had declined to a single digit.
“It is a good move although expected more downward movements in these things to lower the cost of borrowing, it is suicidal to borrow money in this country because of high interest rates ,” Mr Nyrenda said.