Fri, 08 Sep 2017 14:22:02 +0000 By Oscar Malipenga NEGOTIATIONS with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were on a positive trajectory, President Edgar Lungu has said. The President however expressed concern with failure by commercial banks to significantly reduce interest rates despite the Bank of Zambia having lowered monetary policy lending rates to trigger the banks to support government initiatives. He said this at State House on Tuesday evening when he met Standard Chartered Bank Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Bill Winters where they discussed the bank’s plans to increase their participation in the Zambian economy across various sectors. “Sadly we have not seen a significant interest rate reduction by commercial banks to support government initiatives, which is a source of concern. The high interest rates charged by commercial banks have also resulted in increased non-performing loan portifolios in the banking sector,” Mr Lungu said. And government is determined to press on with reforms aimed […]
