output is expected in the major sectors for wholesale and retail, construction, mining and quarrying, hotels and restaurants, manufacturing, education, fishing and finance, all of which declined last year. not with standing the weak turnaround in overall output forecast for this year, performances in some of our major sectors so far have been encouraging. tourism has recovered very strongly. visitor arrivals are higher by around 20 percent compared to the last two years. the tourism industry is clearly on track to achieve its targeted 600, 000 record arrivals for the year. activity in the mining and export sectors is also encouraging. exports, particularly of gold, fish, mineral water and timber, continue to gain momentum, supported by favourable commodity prices. the outlook for this sector is very promising and bodes well for our balance of trade. in contrast, output in the sugar sector has been very disappointing. sugar production has been declining over a number of years. the deterioration in both cane and sugar production has been attributed to frequent mill problems which have restrained cane harvests and affected mill efficiency. unfortunately, the mill upgrade over the past three years has not been able to produce the desired results and has only added to the debt burden of the government. however, the outlook for this critical industry is positive pending the implementation of a range of reforms to bring the industry back to its glory days. it is encouraging to note the prime minister ’ s recent pledge to fix the industry and safeguard the livelihood of nearly 200, 000 people who rely on the sugar sector. consumer spending has picked up slightly from levels recorded last year, as indicated by recent partial indicators. higher net value added tax ( vat ) collections and pay as you earn collections indicate growth in private consumption. this has also been supported by strong visitor arrivals and increases in inward remittances. inward remittances which has fallen significantly over the last 3 to 4 years is recovering very strongly. against this macroeconomic background, the reserve bank continues to focus monetary policy on ensuring that the interest rate environment is appropriate and liquidity is adequate at all times to allow credit to grow. inflation has significantly trended downwards in recent months as the effect of the devaluation has fully worked through the economy. from a peak of 10. 5 percent in april, inflation has fallen to 1. 1 percent in september, and is forecast to be around 4. 0 percent or less by the end of the year. foreign reserves, i am pleased to say, have held up very well this year

caleb m fundanga : increasing access to financial services in zambia remarks by dr caleb m fundanga, governor of the bank of zambia, at the official opening of national savings and credit bank, lukulu branch, lusaka, 27 may 2009. * * * the guest of honour ; the honourable minister of finance and national planning ; dr. situmbeko musokotwane, mp the honourable minister for western province ; the deputy permanent secretary for western province ; the honourable members of parliament for lukulu east and west ; the acting ngambela imbua imwaka representing the barotse royal establishment ; the district commissioners for lukulu and kaoma ; the board and management of national savings and credit bank ; distinguished invited guests ; ladies and gentlemen. 1. on behalf of the bank of zambia governor, i would like to thank the board of directors and management of national savings and credit bank for inviting us to the occasion of the opening of another rural branch in zambia, this time in lukulu. 2. national savings and credit bank ( also commonly referred to as natsave ) was established on 1 april 1972 by the national savings and credit bank act of 1972 and it commenced business operations in march 1973. the amendments to the banking and financial services act of 2000 extended the supervisory authority of the bank of zambia to natsave which was until then, supervised by the ministry of finance and national planning ( mofnp ). 3. natsave was set up to administer savings and to provide credit facilities in urban, periurban and rural areas to individuals and small business enterprises. its business strategy is to target the low and medium income earners through the establishment of a sustainable network of outlets and by offering sustainable financial services. the bank has continued to be a leading public vehicle in ensuring financial inclusion to all citizens across the country through the vast branch network. currently, natsave has 27 branches ( including lukulu branch ), spread across the country. 4. honourable ministers and distinguished invited guests, a key element in the strategy of poverty reduction is the provision of financial services to the majority of our people, the small and micro enterprises who have traditionally been neglected by the formal banking sector. natsave ’ s expansion program therefore has the potential to improve access to financial services and enhance competition in the financial sector. this improves financial services delivery to the zambian people and brings more of the financially excluded population to the financial institutions. the bank