2021 March

In a statement from Zambia’s Minister of Health Jonas Chanda, Zambia expects the delivery of coronavirus vaccines in April or May after ap-proving participation in the Covax initiative last week and is pursuing other means of procuring doses, including financed purchases. Zambia aims to inoculate about 3.7mn people using the Covax doses. According to Minister...

Virtual talks between Zambia and the IMF are expected to resume today. While the resumption in talks with IMF is a positive sign, we remain sceptical that a progamme is likely before the elections. Making progress on a lengthy list of reforms as identified by the IMF in previous talks in an election year is...

Zambia’s Finance Ministry on Friday said that it would resume virtual talks with the International Monetary Fund on the 30th  of March. Talks are expected to continue into the first two weeks of April. According to the ministry, the talks aim to agree to an appropriate policy reform agenda to address “economic challenges that Zambia...

Headline inflation quickened to a 5-year high of 22.8% y/y in March from 22.2% y/y in the month prior as food prices surged and the weakening of the Kwacha made imports more expensive. Specifically, food inflation came in at 27.8% y/y in March from 27.3% y/y, a record high according to ZamStats. Non-food inflation also...

The domestic data card picks up today with the latest inflation and trade numbers on tap. In February headline inflation accelerated further, coming in at 22.2% y/y from 21.5% y/y in the month prior, underpinned by food prices which rose at the fastest pace in at least a decade. With inflation moving further away from...

ZCCM Investments Holding Plc CEO Mabvuto Chipata in a recent interview indicated that the company wants a bigger share of the revenues from the copper operations it has stakes in as well as larger shares in other companies that produce the metal in the country. Chipata was quoted as saying “our strategy is to ensure...

It was a quiet start to the week in Zambia amid a dearth of domestic data. Note, on Thursday the latest inflation and trade numbers are due. In February headline inflation accelerated further, coming in at 22.2% y/y from 21.5% y/y in the month prior, underpinned by food prices which rose at the fastest pace...

In a press release yesterday, the Zambian Finance Ministry stated that Zambia’s public external debt remains at $12.74bn at the end of 2020. Note this compares with a total debt stock $11.97bn at the end of June. Click here for more https://www.mof.gov.zm/?wpfb_dl=347.  The extent of Zambia’s fiscal woes is evidenced by the fact that the...

It was uneventful day in Zambia amid a continued dearth of domestic data yesterday. The focus was therefore on offshore developments.  At its latest FOMC meeting, the Fed opted to keep rates near zero and to persist with asset purchases of at least $120bn per month. Although the decision to hold monetary policy unchanged will...

Zambia’s Health Minister Jonas Chanda yesterday stated that the country was bracing for the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic and that the government was trying to do everything possible to avert it. Chanda was quoted as saying “Government is putting in all preventive and treatment measures since we remain with yet a small window...