Story of the Day:
In the last Annual General Meeting held on 14th January 2020, ZCCM-IH shareholders approved a total dividend payout of K53 million. Read more
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Zambia’s economy will grow by more than 3% in 2020 from around 2% last year, Finance Minister Bwalya Ng’andu said on Wednesday, while the fiscal deficit is projected to drop to 5.5% of GDP. Read more: Reuters
Zambia will cancel or downsize project loans worth about $5 billion as the nation tries to rein in runaway external debt that’s been increasing its risk of default. Read more: Bloomberg
Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry Christopher Yaluma says Zambia has priotized the Industrialization policy as a key driver in the attainment of economic development. Read more: Lusaka Times
The Zambia Airports Corporation limited – ZACL has disclosed that the on-going works at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport – KKIA are currently running at 87% towards completion and the works have so far progressed to an advanced stage. Read more: Zambian Business Times
Zambia’s Gross International Forex Reserves have increased to US$1.45 billion equivalent to 2.1 months of import cover as at end of December 2019 from the US$ 1.41 billion equivalents to 1.6 months import cover recorded at end of June 2019. Read more: Zambian Business Times
ZAFFICO has officially been listed on the Lusaka Securities Exchange.
And, Government has implored the Industrial Development Coropration (IDC) to continue seeking innovative ways to leverage the domestic capital markets to anchor the transformation intervention of public enterprises under it. Read more: ZNBC
Zambia’s Finance Minister Dr. Bwalya Ng’andu on 12 February in his economic briefing assured the nation that his ministry was engaging the Washington based lender for a bailout package. Dr. Ng’andu preempted the International Monetary Funds (IMF) next visit to Zambia between 18-22 March a period with which a team would court the MinFin on various issues ranging from debt sustainability to overall fiscal posture. Read more: The Business Telegraph
Bank of Zambia will hold its first rate decision meeting next week beginning deliberations on the 17 February with the announcement on monetary policy stance to be made on Wednesday 19 February. The central bank is expected to keep rates unchanged. Read more: The Business Telegraph
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International Business and Finance Sponsored By Royal Air Charters
New BP boss Bernard Looney has said he wants the company to sharply cut net carbon emissions by 2050 or sooner. Mr Looney said the 111-year-old company needed to “reinvent” itself, a strategy that will eventually include more investment in alternative energy. Read more: BBC News
SoftBank profits have been almost entirely wiped out, as the company continues to feel the pain from big losses in its massive tech fund. The Japanese tech conglomerate on Wednesday reported operating income of 2.59 billion yen ($23.6 million) for the three months ended in December, a plunge of 99% compared to the same period a year earlier. Read more: CNN
The sea of red ink is getting deeper and deeper in Washington, with the federal government already racking up a budget deficit that is averaging close to $100 billion a month. Treasury Department data released Wednesday show the shortfall at $389.2 billion in the first four months of fiscal 2020. That’s a 25% gain over the same period last year and already about 40% of the total deficit for fiscal 2019. Read more: CNBC
President Donald Trump is hoping to sign another trade deal before the 2020 election. It could be with India, if he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi can come to terms during Trump’s official trip to the country in less than two weeks. Read more: CNBC
South African inflation is expected to be lower in 2020 than previously forecast and the eventual reading could be lower still, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday, opening the door for the central bank to cut interest rates again during the year. Read more: Investing
Capital Markets Report Sponsored By ZCCM-IH
In 19 trades recorded yesterday, 684,322 shares were transacted, yielding a market turnover of K341,375. A share price loss of K0.01 was recorded in Zanaco. Trading was also recorded in Copperbelt Energy Corporation, Standard Chartered Bank Limited and Zambia Sugar. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 4,254.82 points. 0.08% down from its previous close of 4,258.14 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K56,514,664,618 including Shoprite Holdings and K22,275,458,638 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
Chart of the Day: