bank of zambia keynote speech launch of the 2019 world savings day by dr denny h. kalyalya, governor, bank of zambia intercontinental hotel, lusaka 31st october 2019, lusaka, zambia keynote speech by dr denny kalyalya, governor, bank of zambia at the 2019 world savings day event on 31st october 2019 at the intercontinental hotel, lusaka the chief executive - securities and exchange commission the registrar and ceo – pensions and insurance authority the chairperson – bankers association of zambia senior government officials here present members of the diplomatic corps chief executive officers and senior private sector representatives representatives from education institutions members of the media here present pupils and students here present, and may i just say, distinguished ladies and gentlemen i am delighted to officiate at this official launch of the 2019 world savings day under the theme : ‘ be money smart : savings give life a lift! ’. as you may be aware, the world savings day is a global event celebrated to promote awareness on the importance of savings. in line with the national strategy on financial education of 2012, zambia has observed the world savings day since 2014. distinguished ladies and gentlemen, this year ’ s world savings day commemoration presents yet another opportunity for consumers to learn about financial products as well as how to select and assess appropriate financial products to maximise their usage for key life events. following the launch of the national financial inclusion strategy in 2017, new informal financial service providers have emerged, such as, village banks and savings groups in both the rural and urban areas. as both formal and informal financial service providers are agents of financial inclusion it is important for us, the regulators, to seek effective ways of linking the two types of players with a view to reducing informality as we expand financial inclusion. distinguished guests, in recognition of the importance of formal financial inclusion in supporting economic growth, the bank of zambia is collaborating with savenet, to keynote speech by dr denny kalyalya, governor, bank of zambia at the 2019 world savings day event on 31st october 2019 at the intercontinental hotel, lusaka develop channels to link informal savings groups to formal financial services providers. according to savenet data, at the end of 2018 there were 15, 700 savings groups in zambia, with cumulative savings amounting to k53. 1 million. this points to a good opportunity for the formal financial service providers to mobilise deposits. in this regard, it has been observed that a number of regulated financial service providers and mobile money operators have already started designing products aimed at

securities, the average commercial banks ’ lending rate declined further to around 28 % in december 2006 from about 34 % in december 2005. in january 2007, it slightly declined to about 27 %. mr chairman, clearly, there is a need for commercial banks to do more to reduce lending rates in order to influence a substantial expansion of private sector credit. lower lending rates will contribute to the reduction in the cost of doing business in zambia. the current environment of low inflation and relatively stable exchange rate offer a good opportunity for lowering commercial banks lending interest rates. distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, zambia ’ s external position continues to score remarkable improvements as reflected in the build - up of gross international reserves to 2 months of import cover in 2006 from 1. 6 months of import cover in 2005. furthermore, the preliminary assessment is that zambia ’ s surplus trade balance increased to us $ 1, 176. 0 million in 2006 from a trade surplus of us $ 10 million in 2005. similarly, the current account deficit as a percentage of gdp, excluding grants, reduced from 11. 8 % in 2005 to 2. 3 % in 2006. this improvement has been due to increased export receipts arising from record high copper prices and increased export volumes. in addition, the historic debt relief received in 2006 and the increased budget support from our cooperating partners has helped to strengthen the external position. preliminary information indicates that the country ’ s external debt position stood at us $ 635 million as at end of december 2006, a reduction of about 87 % from the end - 2005 debt stock of us $ 4. 5 billion. in 2006, the foreign exchange market was characterized by general depreciation of the kwacha against major currencies. in order to moderate exchange rate volatility and maintain stability in the external value of the kwacha, the bank of zambia intervened by way of purchasing and selling foreign exchange. in the banking sector, there have been no bank failures in the recent past, reflecting stability in the financial sector mr chairman, the government has shown commitment to continuing the economic reform programme. to this end, measures are being taken to ensure that the macroeconomic gains attained so far will be consolidated in 2007. accordingly, government is targeting real gdp growth of 7. 0 % and inflation of 5. 0 %. pursuit of these objectives is within the context of the long - term development objectives well articulated in the national long term vision, 2030. part of this vision is enshrined in the fifth