Kwacha continues to fall despite government’s efforts to halt the trend

The Zambian currency the Kwacha continues to weaken despite efforts by the government to reverse the trend.

On March 20, 2014 Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda revoked statutory instruments 33 and 55 to halt the fall of the Kwacha that had fallen by 13 per cent on the previous quarter then. The Kwacha pegged against the US Dollar hit an all time low of 6 Kwacha to the Dollar.

When the Patriotic Front (PF) government took over governance from the Movement for Multi Party Democracy (MMD) two and half years ago the Kwacha traded at slightly lower than 4.7 Kwacha from an economy that was making upward strides.

Today, the value of the Dollar is 6.63 Kwacha according to Investrust Bank. With Zambia highly dependent on imports to support its industries, the cost of goods and services are expected to rise further and people’s purchasing power is further weakened as the value of the Kwacha falls.

The result of this will be an increase in inflation as more money will be required to purchase fewer goods. The PF government promised the electorate of more money in their pockets and better living standards during their 2011 elections campaign.

Zambia imports fuel and machinery to support the agriculture, manufacturing, mining and transport sectors of the economy.

Below are today’s Foreign Exchange Rates as obtained from Investrust Bank: