HIGH LENDING RATES CHOKE PRIVATE SECTOR - BOZ
HIGH lending rates continue to constrain the private sector’s access to credit, the Bank of Zambia(BoZ) has said.
BoZ Governor Denny Kalyalya said the average lending rate had risen to 21.8 percent in December 2018 from 21.2 percent in September.
Dr Kalyalya said this when he presented the Monetary Policy Committee statement in Lusaka.
He said commercial banks’ average nominal lending rates increased to 23.6 percent in December 2018 from 23.0 percent in September.
“The average savings rate for 180 day deposit rose 9.1 percent in December 2018 from 8.3 percent in September 2018,” Dr Kalyalya said.
Meanwhile, Dr Kalyalya said funds raised through Government securities auction rose to K5.8 billion from K5.3 billion in the previous quarter which was against maturities of K5.4 billion compared with K6.4 billion in third quarter of last year.
He said preliminary estimates indicated that over the three quarters of 2018, real Gross Domestic Product averaged 3.9 percent, slightly higher than 3.6 percent recorded during the same period in 2017.
Commercial banks’ average nominal lending rate declined slightly to 24.1 percent in March 2018 from 24.6 percent in December 2017. Excluding outlier rates, the average nominal lending rate declined to 21.4 percent from 21.7 percent over the same period.