Good morning. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.
-
IMF board to meet on July 12 for first review of Zambia’s programme
-
US economy stronger than reported at start of 2023
-
In the fourth week of June, bonds of total face value of K686,080,000 were transacted in 50 trades
Story of the Day
STANBIC FRAUD SYMPOSIUM IN COLLABORATION WITH BANKER’S ASSOCIATION OF ZAMBIA GOVERNOR’S REMARKS 28 JUNE 2023: Ladies and Gentlemen, financial crimes include fraud, dishonesty, financial market malfeasance, handling the proceeds of crime, and terrorism financing. Available evidence globally, suggests that financial crimes have pervasive adverse effects on various facets of society. For example, financial crimes can seriously hinder resource mobilization efforts for developing nations such as ours, by reducing the capacity of the government to generate taxes needed to provide essential public goods such as health education and security. Further, the necessity for criminals to conceal the source of their illicit funds has led to financial crimes such as money laundering. Money laundering distorts the official statistics relied upon by public institutions to plan social spending and formulate public policy. Read more
In Local Business News Sponsored by
The International Monetary Fund executive board will meet on July 12 to complete the first review of its $1.3 billion extended fund facility (EFF) programme for Zambia, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. The board meeting comes after Africa’s second-biggest copper producer clinched a deal with bilateral creditors such as China and the Paris Club to rework about $6.3 billion of overseas debt. The country will have access to around $188 million after the review is completed. Read more: Reuters
Zambia Statistics Agency (ZamStats) has disclosed that annual inflation rate for June 2023 has dropped to 9.8% from 9.9% recorded in May, 2023 due to price movements of selected food items. Addressing Journalists in Lusaka, Agency Statistician General Mulenga Musepa this means that on average, prices of goods and services rose by 9.8 percent between June 2022 and June 2023. Mr. Musepa also revealed that monthly food inflation remained the same at 0.9% driven by movements in prices of meat products, frozen and live chicken, vegetables, bread and cereals among others. “Non-food increased to 0.7% from 0.2% due to purchase of motor vehicles, pharmaceuticals Products, Air Fare Domestic and Air Fare Regional,” Mr. Musepa stated. He added that annual food inflation for June 2023 was recorded at 11.2 percent compared to11.6 percent in the previous month, while non-food inflation increased to 7.8 percent from 7.6 percent in May 2023. Money FM
Government is working on a policy to support Small and Medium Enterprises(SMEs) in taxation to ensure that they do not pay same amount with large entities. This is according to the Small and Medium Enterprise Development boss, Elias Mubanga. Mubanga said it was unfair for SMEs to be paying the taxes as large companies, hence the need to introducea new taxation policy. He said this recently at the Zanaco micro-small and medium entrepreneurs (MSMEs) business clinic in Lusaka. “There must be a difference between what big and established companies would be paying and what small, emerging business will be paying,” Mubanga said. Read more: Zambia Monitor
Zambia’s debts to the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China and Bank of China will be treated as commercial in debt talks, a senior finance ministry official said Thursday, after a deal was struck with bilateral creditors including China last week. Zambia, which has been in default for nearly three years, reached an agreement last week to restructure $6.3 billion of bilateral debts and its international bondholders expect to strike a restructuring deal in the coming weeks. Read more: Reuters
Liquid C2, a business of Liquid Intelligent Technologies, a pan-African technology group, has revealed that the number of cyberattacks on businesses in Kenya, South Africa, and Zambia increased by 76%. This is according to the latest cyber security report – ‘The Evolving Cyber Security Landscape in Africa 2022′. Featuring research, analysis, and findings across the three countries on the evolving cyber security threats present in Africa, the report shows that cyberattacks against all large enterprises ramped up dramatically. Kenyan businesses reported an 82% increase in such attacks, while South African businesses recorded a 62% increase, and Zambian businesses a 62% increase. Read more: APO Group
Trade volumes between Zambia and China have reportedly increased to US$6.73 billion in 2022, resulting in over 30 per cent increase from 2021. The Standard Bank Group, and the ICBC had entered into a strategic partnership 15 years ago on the understanding of the importance of China as a global economic player and in particular, Africa. This is according to a statement by Stanbic Bank on Thursday. The partnership is said to have enabled the provision of China-Africa financial services for its clients. Read more: Zambia Monitor
Bank of Zambia Exchange Rates
Currency | Buying | Selling |
---|---|---|
USD | 17.4323 | 17.4801 |
GBP | 21.9751 | 22.0424 |
EUR | 18.9506 | 19.0061 |
ZAR | 0.9268 | 0.9296 |
In International Business News Sponsored By
The U.S. economy showed much stronger-than-expected growth in the first quarter than previously thought, according to a big upward revision Thursday from the Commerce Department. Gross domestic product increased at a 2% annualized pace for the January-through-March period, up from the previous estimate of 1.3% and ahead of the 1.4% Dow Jones consensus forecast. This was the third and final estimate for Q1 GDP. The growth rate was 2.6% in the fourth quarter. The upward revision helps undercut widespread expectations that the U.S. is heading toward a recession. A separate economic report released Thursday showed layoffs running well below expectations, indicating that labor market strength has held up even in the face of the Federal Reserve’s 10 interest rate hikes totaling 5 percentage points. Read more: CNBC
According to three persons familiar with the discussions, Ghana and banks have struck an agreement to restructure 15 billion Ghana cedi ($1.36 billion) in locally issued U.S. dollar bonds and cocoa bills. To meet an International Monetary Fund (IMF) deadline and concentrate on talks with foreign creditors, the West African country is looking for fresh conditions for the restructuring of its domestic debt by the end of June. With 85% of eligible bondholders participating in the first phase of Ghana’s domestic debt exchange, which was completed in February, the country now needs new terms for another 123 billion Ghana cedi ($11.18 billion) in order to be eligible for the next installment of a $3 billion IMF loan to help it deal with its worst economic crisis in a generation. The debt includes obligations to the central bank, domestic dollar bonds, cocoa bills, and pension funds. To satisfy the short-term liquidity requirements of the nation’s cocoa regulator Cocobod, cocoa bills were created. Read more: Business Insider
United States President Joe Biden has laid out a broad economic plan he says will help restore the “American dream” as he readies for the presidential election in 2024. Speaking from Chicago, Illinois, on Wednesday, Biden outlined his proposal for “Bidenomics” — a term he admitted he did not create but has since claimed. He explained his economic policies would focus on bolstering the middle class while countering policies that favour wealthy investors and corporations. “This vision is a fundamental break from the economic theory that has failed America’s middle class for decades. It’s called trickle-down economics,” Biden said on Wednesday, rejecting a conservative theory that has held sway over US politics. Read more: Al Jazeera
Chinese Premier Li Qiang has called for more “communication and exchange” to avoid misunderstanding, in his remarks at the opening of this year’s “Summer Davos” in Tianjin, the first in-person event in three years following the COVID-19 pandemic. The three-day summit, which got under way on Tuesday, is hosted by the World Economic Forum but will focus heavily on China’s place in the world and concerns about how the global economy can move forward in an increasingly fractious world, according to the agenda. Li told delegates it was time to support globalisation and deeper economic cooperation. “In the West, some people are hyping up what is called ‘cutting reliance and de-risking‘,” Li said. “These two concepts… are a false proposition, because the development of economic globalisation is such that the world economy has become a common entity in which you and I are both intermingled. The economies of many countries are blended with each other, rely on each other, make accomplishments because of one another and develop together. This is actually a good thing, not a bad thing.” Read more: Al Jazeera
America’s mountain of debt is poised to climb to new heights later this decade even after Republicans and Democrats reached a deal to chip away at the federal deficit. US debt held by the public will climb to a record high of 107% of the gross domestic product in 2029, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected on Wednesday. That’s up from 98% of GDP at the end of this year. In other words, the amount of money the United States owes will significantly exceed the size of its economy. The projection comes despite the bipartisan debt ceiling deal hailed by its backers as a major deficit reducer. The CBO has previously said that package, called the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, is expected to reduce federal deficits by $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years. In 2029, debt held by the public will total about $36 trillion, or $104,300 per person, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a non-profit public policy organization. That’s up from $25.4 trillion in debt today. Over the longer term, US debt is forecasted to explode further. Read more: CNN
In the fourth week of 2023 bond trading, there were four days that recorded trades during the week of which Thursday’s bond trading was the best performing day of the week. Bonds of total face value of K686,080,000 were transacted in 50 trades, resulting in a market value of K442,524,630. Bonds are a low-risk investment issued when the government borrows money from its people. You can purchase bonds using the Lusaka Securities Exchange Application online. Read more
In 22 trades recorded yesterday 42,725 shares were transacted reuslting in a turnover of K213,303.54. Share price gains of K0.05 and K0.02 were recorded in Standard Chartered Bank Limited and Zanaco respectively. Trading activity was also recorded in Airtel, CEC Zambia, Chilanga Cement, Zambeef and Zambia Sugar. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 8,248.06 points, up by 0.31% from its previous close of 8,222.28 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K76.833,986,754.61 including Shoprite Holdings and K42,051,301,314.61 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
Picture of the Day