Mealie meal prices to drop

MEALIE meal prices will start falling steadily as the new harvest reaches the market next month, says the Indaba Agricultural Policy and Research Institute (IAPRI).

Mealie meal prices are currently trading between K85 and K120 for a 25 kilogramme bag.

IAPRI in its Maize Market Status Report for March and April 2019 indicated that the maize and meal prices which had reached exceptionally high levels were eroding consumer purchasing power.

It however said as the new harvest adequately reach the market by June 2019, prices would stabilise and start falling steadily.

“However, given the reduced harvest prospects for Zambia and neighbouring countries, maize and maize meal price levels are expected to remain much above the recent five- year aver- age and the previous season,” said IAPRI.

IPARI said the supply of maize grain on the market continued to be limited as Zambia awaited the main harvest which was expected by end of this month.

The new harvest, said IAPRI, would increase the availability of the main staple food.

It explained that the new harvest had slowly started entering the market and was expected to push the stock levels up as the 2019/2020 marketing season commences.

The estimated maize production stands at 2,000,389 tonnes compared to 2,394,907 tonnes for the last season representing a 16 percent drop.

“As at May 8, 2019, the country’s level maize grain stocks were estimated at 412,801.31 MT excluding grain held at rural household level from the previous season’s harvest.

The report says mobile subscriber base grew by 15.1 percent in 2018 to 15,470,270 from 13,438,539 in 2017. In terms of market share, the report says, MTN Zambia and Airtel Zambia Limited

THE Development Bank of Zambia (DBZ) has recorded a profit margin decline for three years consecutively, the latest Auditor General’s report has revealed.

According to the report, DBZ posted a profit margin decline in 2015, 2016 and 2017 respectively.

This is contained in the Auditor General’s report on the accounts of parastatal bodies and other statutory institutions for the financial year ended December 31, 2017.

In 2015, the profit margin was 95 percent but drastically reduced to 2 percent in the following year before deteriorating even further to negative 118 percent in 2017.

The report says this reflected the bank’s failure to generate adequate income to meet its expenditure in full. “Increase in impairments of loans issued out to poor performing customers contributed significantly to the decline in profits.

“Although the bank recorded a profit margin of 95 percent in 2015 and a 2 percent in 2016, an analysis of the 2015 and 2016 statement of comprehensive income revealed that the bank’s source of positive profit margin was due to exchange gains realised in that year,” the report says.

The report revealed that the net interest percentage fluctuated between 72 and 80 percent over the period under review.

“The net interest percentage dropped from 80 percent in 2015 to 72 percent in 2016 reflecting an erosion in profit margins. However, there was an improvement in 2017 when interest income percentage increased from 72 percent 2016 to 76 in 2017,” the report says

The report says profit margins expresses profits before taxation as a percentage of interest income.