tukiya kankasa - mabula : stakeholder ’ s workshop on the draft bank of zambia act opening remarks by dr tukiya kankasa - mabula, deputy governor of the bank of zambia, at the stakeholder ’ s workshop on the draft bank of zambia act, lusaka, 21 september 2010. * * * chief executive officers and representatives of stakeholder institutions ; distinguished invited guests ; directors and staff of the bank of zambia ; members of the press ; ladies and gentlemen. on behalf of the bank of zambia, and indeed on my own behalf, i welcome you to this workshop which is entitled “ the stakeholder ’ s workshop on the draft bank of zambia act ”. as the name rightly suggests, it is a workshop facilitating the meeting of minds of key stakeholders affected by the bank of zambia act. on the one hand we have those administering the act, the bank of zambia representatives and on the other hand those whose operations stand to be affected by the administration of the act, the financial service providers. we have also cast the net wide to include other key stakeholders such as government ministries, other regulatory entities and professional bodies representing lawyers, accountants and economists. the bank of zambia is charged with the responsibility of formulating and implementing monetary and supervisory policies that achieve and maintain price stability and promote financial system stability in the republic of zambia. to give you a brief background on the central bank legislation, since its inception in 1964 the bank has operated under 3 different bank of zambia acts ; the boz act of 1965, the boz act of 1985 and the current boz act of 1996. each of these acts has responded to the era of its time. for example, the acts of 1965 and 1985 were characterised by high government involvement in the operations of the bank. the bank administered exchange control regulations. it also determined and regulated the frequency and rates of fees, commissions and interest rates etc charged by financial institutions. the economic reforms that swept the country in the 1990 ’ s saw the ushering in of the current boz act of 1996 which supported the government ’ s free market policies. the bank ’ s mandate was made clearer, exchange control regulations were suspended and the bank ’ s regulation of interest rates etc was removed. there was also improved transparency and accountability. since the enactment of the boz act of 1996 two issues have precipitated the need to have the act reviewed again ; 1. in 2002, the imf and the world bank conducted a joint assessment

caleb m fundanga : monetary policy issues and the process of foreign payments presentation by dr caleb m fundanga, governor of the bank of zambia, at the zambian heads of missions briefing seminar, lusaka, 19 july 2005. * * * the hon. minister of foreign affairs, lt. gen. ronnie shikapwasha, mp hon. deputy minister of foreign affairs permanent secretaries your excellencies, high commissioners and ambassadors senior government officials distinguished invited guests ladies and gentlemen it is an honour for me to be here this morning to talk to you on the topic of “ monetary policy issues and the process of foreign payments ”. this topic provides me with an opportunity to explain the role of the bank of zambia in the economy and the process of foreign payments which has been a topical issue. as you may be aware, the bank of zambia ’ s mission is to formulate and implement monetary and supervisory policies that will ensure price and financial system stability. however, in line with the topic above, my presentation this morning will focus on the first aspect of the mission of the bank, namely, price stability. there are generally three prices of major concern to the bank of zambia. these are general prices of goods and services, interest rates and the exchange rate of the kwacha against major foreign currencies. i will now deal with each of these in turn. the central bank deals with general prices of goods and services in the context of inflation. in simple terms, inflation may be defined as the change in the general price level of goods and services. however, in every day usage, inflation may be defined as “ too much money chasing too few goods ”. describing inflation this way makes it easier to link it to monetary policy which is the control of money supply in an economy. the bank of zambia is concerned that inflation has remained stubbornly high for quite sometime now. as at end - june 2005, inflation was at 19. 2 % which we consider too high to foster sustainable economic growth. the poor weather patterns over the last agricultural season resulted in low crop output, particularly that of maize, which induced inflationary pressures. the unyielding rise in world oil prices on account of high demand from china and india, due to high economic activity, disruptions in supply, arising from war in the middle east, as well as processing capacity constraints in many oil consuming countries have also caused a general rise in the domestic prices of petroleum products thereby increasing the cost of domestic production. in order