Stabilised Zambian Kwacha Good For Business – ZACA.

Following President Hakainde Hichilema’s electoral victory on the 16th of August the value of the Kwacha increased by 10-15% during his first two weeks in office, trading at a low of 15.87 ZMK to the USD on the 28th of August. The Kwacha today is trading at K 16.50 against the USD and is expected to remain stable as the president has pledged his commitment to ensuring that the local currency does not lose its value.

The Zambia Consumer Association (ZACA) executive secretary Juba Sakala said in an interview earlier this week that the continued stability of the Zambian Kwacha against international convertible currencies has given confidence to local and foreign investors, helping to stimulate the market. ZACA are hopeful that the stability of the Kwacha will continue for the next three months at least. 

“We commend the new administration and the central bank for stabilising the exchange rate of the Kwacha against the international convertible currencies,” he said.

However, Mr Sakala has expressed concern over the continuous rising of prices of commodities on the market. 

“We have noticed that the prices of commodities especially food is still on the increase which is worrying our consumers because they can no longer afford to buy their necessities,” he said.

Mr Sakala stated that the continued fall of the Kwatcha has created a need for all the merchants to start reducing prices of their commodities. He urged HH and his administration to put in place certain measures to help merchants price their commodities competitively. 

Yoram Mweetwa an Economist has also urged government to come up with policies that will stop merchants from exploiting their consumers.

“There are some merchants making excuses that they cannot reduce prices of their commodities because they still have old stock, but this excuse is not new and we know that there are some (merchants) who are ordering new stock at reduced rates but still maintaining these exorbitant prices, something has to be done,” he said.