{"id":16359,"date":"2022-02-18T01:29:39","date_gmt":"2022-02-18T01:29:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/boz-keeps-key-interest-rate-on-hold-at-9-as-inflation-slows"},"modified":"2022-02-18T01:45:35","modified_gmt":"2022-02-18T01:45:35","slug":"boz-keeps-key-interest-rate-on-hold-at-9-as-inflation-slows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/boz-keeps-key-interest-rate-on-hold-at-9-as-inflation-slows","title":{"rendered":"BoZ Keeps key interest rate on hold at 9% as Inflation slows"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. <\/strong><\/span>The Bank of Zambia has kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged on expectations that inflation will continue slowing and to support a fragile economic recovery.<\/p>\n

Governor Denny Kalyalya told a media briefing on Wednesday that the monetary policy committee held the rate at 9%. This was Dr Kalyalya\u2019s second rate decision since being reappointed to the post in September.<\/p>\n

Dr Kalyalya said the decision to hold was supported by a \u201csharp decline in inflation since December\u201d and due to \u201csome fragility\u201d in economic growth. Key factors the Committee took into account include the sharp deceleration in inflation and its projected continued trending towards the 6-8% target range over the forecast period from Q1 2022 to Q4 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, upside risks to the inflation outlook remain. These include increase in crude oil prices, possible short term effects of the transition to cost-reflective electricity tariffs, lower crop production due to adverse weather conditions, lingering supply chain bottlenecks induced by the Covid-19 pandemic, and tightening of monetary policies in major economies in response to rising inflation,\u201d Dr Kalyalya stressed.<\/p>\n

The MPC forecasts the economy will grow 3.5% in 2022 and 3.6% the following year. Zambia\u2019s inflation rate dropped to 15.1% in January, the lowest in almost two years, compared with 19.3% in November. Dr Kalyalya said the central bank projects inflation will continue to trend toward its 6% to 8% target range over the next eight quarters.<\/p>\n

This is \u201cmainly due to the catalytic benefits of securing an International Monetary Fund program such as access to budget support, a reduction of external debt burden through restructuring and unlocking investment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The central bank forecasts inflation will average 13.2% in 2022, compared with the 15% projected at its MPC meeting in November, when it hiked the key rate by 50 basis points. Dr Kalyalya said the policy committee also sees inflation averaging 7.3% in 2023, compared with its 9.3% November forecast.<\/p>\n

The Governor warned that adverse weather conditions, supply chain bottlenecks, an 8% depreciation in the kwacha against the dollar this year, surging energy prices and an anticipated increase in power tariffs in March are upside risks to the inflation outlook.<\/p>\n

Dr Kalyalya said decisions on the Policy Rate will continue to be guided by inflation forecasts, outcomes, and identified risks, including those associated with financial stability and the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

The Committee also noted and welcomed the Medium-Term Budget Plan (White Paper) saying execution of this Plan is deemed critical to the achievement of macroeconomic stability, including low inflation and a stable financial system. The next Monetary Policy Committee Meeting is scheduled for May 16 and 17, 2022.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Zambia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. The Bank of Zambia has kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged on expectations that inflation will continue slowing and to support a fragile economic recovery. Governor Denny Kalyalya told a media briefing on Wednesday that the monetary policy committee held the rate at 9%. This was Dr Kalyalya\u2019s second rate decision since […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":16358,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,8,16],"tags":[234,235,233],"class_list":["post-16359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","category-homepage-english","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-zambia","tag-zambia"],"yoast_head":"\nBoZ Keeps key interest rate on hold at 9% as Inflation slows - Zambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Bank of Zambia has kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged on expectations that inflation will continue slowing a ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/boz-keeps-key-interest-rate-on-hold-at-9-as-inflation-slows\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BoZ Keeps key interest rate on hold at 9% as Inflation slows\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Bank of Zambia has kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged on expectations that inflation will continue slowing a ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/boz-keeps-key-interest-rate-on-hold-at-9-as-inflation-slows\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Zambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-02-18T01:29:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-02-18T01:45:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2022\/02\/img-620efa24e8699.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"533\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/boz-keeps-key-interest-rate-on-hold-at-9-as-inflation-slows#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/boz-keeps-key-interest-rate-on-hold-at-9-as-inflation-slows\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"BoZ Keeps key interest rate on hold at 9% as Inflation slows\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-18T01:29:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-18T01:45:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/boz-keeps-key-interest-rate-on-hold-at-9-as-inflation-slows\"},\"wordCount\":440,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/boz-keeps-key-interest-rate-on-hold-at-9-as-inflation-slows#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2022\/02\/img-620efa24e8699.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Zambia\",\"Zambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\",\"homepage-english\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/boz-keeps-key-interest-rate-on-hold-at-9-as-inflation-slows#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/boz-keeps-key-interest-rate-on-hold-at-9-as-inflation-slows\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/boz-keeps-key-interest-rate-on-hold-at-9-as-inflation-slows\",\"name\":\"BoZ Keeps key interest rate on hold at 9% as Inflation slows - 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