adminThe Zambian kwacha has begun showing signs of improvement against international currencies with economic analysts expecting the upward trend to continue.Sunday’s announcement comes two days after the government scrapped two laws blamed for strangulating the local currency, which was trading at an all-time low of K6,40 to one US dollar on Friday.
Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda said the government had with immediate effect scrapped Statutory Instrument (SI) number 33 of 2012 and Statutory Instrument number 55 of 2013 which had in effect strangled the local currency.
SI 33 made it a punishable offence for business houses to trade using foreign currencies such as the US dollar for transactions, while SI 55 made it compulsory for business organisations to declare their earnings with the central bank.
Economist Oliver Saasa told journalists that the move to scrap the two laws was the right one as it would give the kwacha an opportunity to recover from the rapid devaluation it had suffered over the past few months.
The Bank of Zambia Governor Michael Gondwe said the central bank will continue closely monitoring the situation and would intervene where necessary.
The central bank recently off-loaded $178 million on the market in a bid to stabilise the kwacha and stop its free fall. – APA.
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