caleb m fundanga : trends in central bank governance opening remarks by dr caleb m fundanga, governor of the bank of zambia, at the official opening of the seminar on “ trends in central bank governance ”, livingstone, 28 - 29 february 2008. * * * his honour the vice president her grace the mayor of livingstone the chairperson central bank governors and deputy governors board members of central banks resource persons distinguished international participants ladies and gentlemen on behalf of the bank of zambia and indeed on my own behalf, i would like to extend a very warm welcome to you all to this important seminar on “ trends in central bank governance. ” to our colleagues from outside zambia, i wish to extend a special welcome to you to zambia, in particular to livingstone, our tourist capital especially at this time of the year. like the rest of zambia, livingstone is a city of tranquility with an easy - going african charm. apart from the famous victoria falls, there are many other tourist spots such as the mukuni cultural village, curio markets, the game park, the national museum, railway museum, e. t. c. i therefore urge you to find time or indeed stay an extra day or more to sample this special menu that livingstone can offer. like other participants, i am glad to be part of this rare gathering of imminent experts. ladies and gentlemen, this seminar comes at a time when the economic performance of our country has significantly strengthened as partly reflected in the developments in the gross domestic product ( gdp ), inflation, interest rate and exchange rate. at a preliminary estimate of 5. 7 % in 2007, growth in real gdp has been above 5 % for the fifth consecutive year. during the month of january 2008, inflation remained in single digit at 9. 3 %, from 8. 9 % and 8. 2 %, in december 2007 and december 2006, respectively. commercial banks lending rates have also exhibited an investment - supportive trend while the kwacha has remained relatively stable. further, we have observed an improvement in the fiscal operations of the government, which is supportive of the country ’ s inflation and growth objectives. the financial sector has also been very stable and registering appreciable growth in the recent years. nevertheless, mr. chairman, despite these achievements, our country like so many other developing countries, still faces some challenges. notable among these, is the urgent need to consolidate and build the gains so far attained. in particular, the need to attain sustained price and financial systems stability

zambia commits to continue supporting the economics department and research programmes at unza and hopes that the university will live up to its obligations under the framework of cooperation to be signed today. we challenge the economics department at unza through the vice chancellor to scale up its research activities in issues of interest to the bank and the zambian economy in general. for this is what this mou entails. we also call upon other industry players in the financial sector to emulate our noble contribution in building human capital and research capacities at this important institution. this is important to ensure that our financial sector operates at the cutting edge of knowledge and innovation. i have no doubt therefore, that such investment will yield returns in the long run as knowledge is a secure investment. i thank you for your attention.