Zambian central bank hopeful of 10 percent inflation target

The deputy head of the Zambian central bank has said there is no doubt that the 10 percent year-end inflation target will be attained this year, the Zambia Daily Mail reported on Saturday.

Zambia's annual inflation rate has been tumbling down from the third quarter of the year and the latest figure for November showed the rate was coming down to 11.5 percent from 12 percent in October.

Bank of Zambia (BoZ) Deputy Governor for Operations Denny Kalyalya said on Friday the annual inflation is likely to drop to the initial target because of many factors that have contributed to the reduction so far.

"We are definitely going to see inflation dropping to 10 percent. Already, this month it had dropped to 11.5 percent and our target was 12 percent. All these indicators point to a further drop in the inflation rate," Kalyalya was quoted as saying by the paper.

The deputy central bank governor said at the bank's cocktail party in Zambia's Ndola city on the Copperbelt Province that the drop in inflation will give confidence to financial institutions to reduce lending interest rates.

Head of the country's Central Statistical Office (CSO) Efreda Chulu said on Thursday when releasing the inflation figure for November that the rate, if the inflation will continues to decline, will likely to influence a drop in lending interest rates.

Among the reasons for the continued decline in the inflation rate include a decline in food prices.

Source: Xinhua