Story of the Day
Annual inflation for December, 2021 decreased to 16.4 percent from 19.3 percent recorded in November 2021. This means that on average, prices of goods and services increased by 16.4 percent between December 2020 and December 2021. The slowdown in annual inflation was attributed to favourable price movements in both food and non-food items. Annual food inflation for December, 2021 was recorded at 19.9 percent compared to 25.4 percent recorded in November 2021, a decrease of 5.5 percentage points. Read more
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Government has reaffirmed its commitment to construct the Kalabo-Sikongo road to boost trade between Zambia and Angola. Speaking during a stakeholders meeting in Mongu, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development Minister Charles Milupi said once the road is done, it will boost the economic and social status of Western Province. Read more: ZNBC
The Bankers Association of Zambia (BAZ) has said the COVID-19 modified loans for the banking industry hit over K3 billion last year, thereby threatening the sector’s capital adequacy. BAZ public relations officer Mirriam Zimba says the sector’s capital adequacy position between January and September 2021 remained under threat of the high stock of COVID-19 modified loans amounting to K3.01 billion. Read more: Times of Zambia
Zanaco Plc has disbursed K1 billion to support the Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (SMEs) in the last two years. The bank was looking at growing the SME loan portfolio further so that small businesses from across sectors could turn the wheels of the economy, Zanaco chief executive officer Kalengo Simukoko said. Addressing journalists in Lusaka recently, Mr Simukoko said Zanaco would continue to support the local SMEs as evidenced by the growing loan portfolio of almost K1billion. Read more: Times of Zambia
The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) says there are no plans to unbundle or privatise Zesco. In an interview, IDC chief executive officer Mateyo Kaluba explained that the advert placed in the Zambia Daily Mail was meant to invite expressions of interest from local and international experts for a study to develop options for restructuring Zesco. Read more: News Diggers
International Business and Finance
The Federal Reserve is likely to raise interest rates four times this year in response to high inflation and low unemployment, Goldman Sachs advised clients on Sunday evening. Rate hikes from the Fed will raise the cost of borrowing, on everything from mortgages and car loans to credit cards. Read more: CNN
For some time, many investing experts have been predicting there will be a shift away from big tech towards value stocks. It might finally be happening — although tech stocks may not go down without a fight. The Dow dropped by about 163 points, or 0.5%, while the S&P 500 fell 0.1%. Both indexes closed well off their lows for the day, however. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq managed to end the day with a slight gain, a significant turnaround after falling more than 2% at one point Monday. Read more: CNN
Airbus kept its crown as the world’s largest jetmaker for the third year running as it outstripped Boeing by delivering 611 jets in 2021, up 8% from the year before, company data showed on Monday. The numbers gave Airbus an unassailable lead on revenue-generating deliveries – the industry’s main yardstick – after Boeing handed over 302 jets in the first 11 months. Read more: Reuters
The International Monetary Fund said on Monday it has appointed French-born University of California-Berkeley economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas as the Fund’s next chief economist, replacing Gita Gopinath, who is joining the IMF management team this month. Read more: Reuters
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In 69 trades recorded yesterday, 23,867 shares were transacted resulting in a turnover of K76,772.A share price increase of K0.63 was recorded in Zambia Sugar. Trading activity was recorded in CEC Africa, CEC Zambia, Lafarge, Standard Chartered Bank Limited, Zambia Sugar and Zanaco. The LuSE All Share Index (LASI) closed at 6,264.98 points, 0.73% up from its previous close of 6219.27 points. The market closed on a capitalization of K68,078,667,787 including Shoprite Holdings and K33,295,982,347 excluding Shoprite Holdings.
Chart of the Day