3 million recorded in 2001. the 2007 inflows were largely in form of foreign direct investment, borrowing from nonaffiliates ( loans and trade credits ) and portfolio investment. we believe that the introduction of economic reforms led to a substantial increase in private capital flows, which regrettably, we have not been able to capture on a regular basis due to budgetary constraints. mr. chairman, history has taught us that high volatility in private capital flows, if not properly monitored and managed, can induce financial and macro - economic instability in the domestic economy. evidence from south east asia indicates that capital flows engendered a financial crisis in that region in 1997 and 1998. in light of this evidence, the results of the foreign private investment and investor perception survey are intended to assist the government to effectively monitor private capital flows. accurate and reliable data on private capital investment will be helpful in understanding recent developments in the zambian economy. better information on investor perceptions will assist government in designing policies that will attract more investment into our economy. further, the results of the survey should prove useful to the private sector and other stakeholders. on the whole, the importance of timely and reliable information on capital flows in the design of appropriate policy responses by government and thus enhancing macroeconomic stability can hardly be overemphasised. adequate and consistent information on capital flows will also greatly improve balance of payments statistics for zambia and serve as an early warning system for government on potential international financial crises and other external shocks. mr. chairman, zambia, like many other developing countries, has inadequate capacity to collect, analyse and disseminate data and information on foreign private capital investment. compared with other countries in the african sub - continent, zambia has serious gaps with respect to data on foreign private capital investment. for instance, while we are now at the second phase of the survey, uganda, tanzania and malawi are in the sixth, fourth and third phases, respectively. this only reveals to us the critical need to conduct this enterprise survey more regularly. to this end, i wish to direct that, as a way forward, the balance of payments statistics committee conducts this survey annually. the bank of zambia, in collaboration with government and other balance of payments statistical committee member institutions will do everything possible to ensure that the collection of this vital information is done on an annual basis. accordingly, it is my hope that participants at this workshop will appreciate the importance of this survey and find the results useful. distinguished guests, i am

importers ) of foreign exchange can trade transparently. following the introduction of this system, there has been a significant improvement in the supply of foreign exchange on the market owing to the confidence in the system by market participants, efficient flow of information among all players and improved external sector performance brought about by increased copper output and unprecedented high world copper prices in recent times. these developments have contributed to the relative stability of the kwacha against major currencies and thus moderating inflationary pressures. in addition, the containment of growth in money supply has contributed to this outcome. furthermore, the anti - dollarisation campaign that the bank of zambia waged some two and half years ago has had an equally important role to play in the observed relative stability of the kwacha against major currencies. however, continued relative stability of the exchange rate of the kwacha against major currencies is heavily dependent on longer term initiatives for sustained improvement in the supply of foreign exchange. among these strategies is a sustained increase in export earnings through the stimulation and maintenance of a strong export sector. ladies and gentlemen, let me now turn to the other part of the topic, namely, the process of foreign payments. the bank of zambia has issued directives that put limits on cash transactions in foreign exchange with authorised dealers. for instance, bureaux de change cannot transact in excess of us dollars 1, 000 or equivalent foreign currency per transaction per day with any one individual. this arises from their primary purpose of being money changers. the corresponding limit for commercial banks is us dollars 5, 000 or equivalent foreign currency per transaction per day for account holders and us dollars 1, 000 or equivalent foreign currency for non - account holders. it is important to stress that these limits for commercial banks pertain to cash transactions only. account holders and nonaccount holders alike wishing to transact above these limits can do so by choosing other modes of payments, such as, direct transfers, drafts, etc. any remittance in excess of us dollars 5, 000 has to be channelled through commercial banks and the person remitting the funds is required to support the transaction with appropriate documentation for statistical purposes, as well as guarding against money laundering and financing of terrorism. the convenience of making foreign payments from kwacha bank accounts has also been improved by introduction of new products. one such product is the visa based electronic debit card where holders of such cards can access their kwacha balances from anywhere in the