denny h kalyalya : broadening financial services provision opening remarks by dr denny h kalyalya, deputy governor - operations of the bank of zambia ; at the opening of the pilot financial inclusion advisors ( fia ) programme, lusaka, 6 april 2009. * * * chairperson the deputy minister of finance and national planning, ms chileshe kapwepwe, mp dr mahaela smith, co - founder and ceo, the commonwealth partnership for technology management ( cptm ) deputy governor – central bank of swaziland distinguished resource persons and representatives from bank negara malaysia regional central bank representatives distinguished participants ladies and gentlemen on behalf of the bank of zambia and indeed on my own behalf, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to this pilot financial inclusion advisers programme and to zambia for our colleagues from other countries. before going any further, please allow me to convey the governor ’ s regret for not being able to be with us. he is attending to another important assignment, the aerc senior policy seminar on the global financial crisis and its implications for african economies, also here in lusaka. nonetheless, he extends his welcome and good wishes for a successful programme. this important conference has brought together practitioners and regulators of microfinance institutions from different countries to share experiences. i also note that participants have been drawn from central banks in the region, the public sector, commercial banks, microfinance institution and other non - bank financial institutions. chairperson : the bank of zambia, in conjunction with the bank negara malaysia ( the central bank of malaysia ) is pleased and greatly honoured to co - host this pilot financial inclusion advisers conference. we have no doubt that this conference will provide the necessary impetus to advance the frontiers of financial services provision to our people in the region. ladies and gentlemen : the genesis for this important forum goes back to the langkawi international dialogue, in 2007 at which the governor of the central bank of malaysia proposed this initiative. the purpose was to bring together practitioners and regulators of microfinance to learn from each other on how to deepen and broaden financial services provision. the proposal was concretized at the global southern africa international dialogue under the cptm smart partnership movement, held here in lusaka, in august 2008 following an agreement between the bank of zambia and bank negara malaysia to conduct the first financial inclusion advisers programme in zambia. distinguished guests and participants : as you may know, the debate on financial inclusion has been going on for some time now.

2005, and further fell to 24. 3 % in september 2007. this is consistent with government ’ s desire of making more funds available for priority sectors of our economy at reasonable cost, in line with the objectives the fifth national development plan, 2006 - 2010. ladies and gentlemen, testimony to this was the recent lowering of the statutory reserve ratio by the bank of zambia to 8 % from 14 % effective 1st october 2007. we expect this action, will release more funds to the commercial banks for on - ward lending to the priority sectors. availability of investible funds to sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, tourism and mining will stimulate further growth in the economy, create more employment and incomes, and contribute to alleviation of poverty. however, it must be noted that the economy desires much lower lending rates than so far recorded to make credit affordable and effectively contribute to expansion of economic activity. the external sector has continued to score remarkable improvement as lately reflected in a the resilience of the kwacha against major foreign currencies, and the country posting in 2006, an estimated overall balance of payments surplus of us $ 696 million compared with a deficit of us $ 284 million in 2005. for instance, the kwacha appreciated by 12. 0 % against the us dollar while the local currency gained by 10. 4 % against the south african rand during the period end - december 2006 to 21st september 2007. this improvement largely occurred due to increased export, which mainly arose from continued high copper prices and complimentary higher export volumes coupled with the buoyant growth in non - traditional export earnings. the maintenance of an appropriate monetary policy, in the wake of a higher than expected inflation outcome in the first quarter of the year, also contributed to the resilience of the kwacha. the developments in the kwacha should not only enhance competitiveness of the country ’ s exports, particularly the non - traditional exports but should overall have a positive bearing on inflation developments in the coming months. esteemed colleagues, the financial sector has continued to enjoy stability and growth this year, characterised by improved banking services and emergence of new products. the overall financial condition and performance of the banking sector has been assessed as satisfactory. the performance of the non - bank financial institutions has todate been fair as the bank of zambia continues to implement measures aimed at maintaining and enhancing the soundness of the financial system. chairperson ; when we met last year at fringilla in chisamba, i informed the participants