BOZ Deputy Governor of operations Bwalya Ng’andu has revealed that a new family of bank notes and coins that will replace the current notes in the rebasing exercising.He said the highest note after rebasing the kwacha will be one hundred kwacha.
The other notes will be 50 Kwacha, 20 Kwacha, 10 Kwacha, five Kwacha and two Kwacha
Dr N’gandu said the family of coins will comprise a one Kwacha, 50 ngwee, 10 ngwee and five ngwee.
Dr. Ng’andu said this at a breakfast meeting in Lusaka today organized by the Zambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The new bank notes are expected to start circulating in June this year.
The Bank of Zambia says it has concluded the technical evaluations of the bids that were submitted for the printing of the new rebased currency.
Dr. Bwalya Ng’andu said the central bank hopes to sign a contract this month with a company that will be chosen to print the new currency.
He said that the new notes once in circulation will for some time cohabit with the old currency adding that the withdrawal of the old currency from circulation will be done in a gradual manner.
And Dr. Ngandu disclosed that about six companies have expressed interest in printing of the new currency.
He however added that the cost of printing the new notes will only be known once the tender board has awarded the preferred company the contract.
And the Dr. Ng’andu said the Bank of Zambia will not set a standard margin for commercial banks to add up to the policy monetary rate which has been set at 9%.
The deputy governor noted that it will be up to the banks to set their lending rates based on the risk assessment and cost of doing business among other factors and that it will be up to the commercial banks to offer lending rates that will attract the borrowers.
Source [ZNBC,QFM]
Why is it that only the Deputy BOZ Governor speaks for the Bank and not the Governor himself?
Chinyemba, I guess there is nothing wrong with the deputy governor making such pronouncements. Having worked at the central bank, i understand that it is in fact within deputy’s line of functions to attend to matters of the currency.
Because hez busy with other issues.
And that’s your complaint about this all issue, really?! Get serious man!
Kusyanasyana kwamaoffice my deal chinyemba. The DG is the spokesperson of the bank. Even you where you are, am sure there is order.
Ok thanks for that!
It makes a lot of sense. The interest management project was started by Dr Fundanga anyway. Gradual withdrawal of old Kwacha notes also makes sense. It is not as if we are living in the UNIP days when Kaunda was fixated on catching out “economic saboteurs”.
Please, Ba Governor help educate da rural population about rebusing da Kwacha before con men capitalize on dere ignorance. Nice move tho..
It sounds very intresting,but how will it benefit us the people!!??
Hope it works
He didnt mention that one and two ngwee coins. I wonder why?
Because the smallest coin will be the 5 Ngwee.
To my fellow Zambian Businessmen and Entrepreneurs, coins are making a comeback time to put on your thinking caps!!
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” Thomas Edison
Wise words being quoted.nice thanx for sharing
You have fantastic thing in this article.
At last I can use afew coins for bread..:”>
The highest note will be K100…which is actually equal to K100,000 at present. This seems bad to me again as i thought the highest denomination would still be K50, 000 at K50…….
Adjust your mind and go with the flow. comparisons you make with the tripple zeros does not make a difference. But we can again proudly compete strongly with other african currencies without shooting to trillions when they talk millions duh….
what is the highest note in SA?Not R 200?
I think having a K100 will send a devaluation signal to the market. I think our highest note should be K50.
\:d/
Good
Why is the DG commenting about coins when he is supposed to be telling us about how to arrest the continued depreciation of the Kwacha. That’s’ problem when you don’t appoint a seasoned BoZ insider into the position of Deputy Governor, you get an additional Non-technical Spokeperson…
K100,000 note sounds Zimbabwe or Congo. We should have maintained k50,000. What every Zambia should be thinking is how are we going benefit from this? Redesign wallets?
make the coins lighter like the thebe of botswana ,or else we’ll have trouble stitching our pockets daily.our old coins especially the one kwacha were just too heavy.
hope its not a fallacy. back to coins sattement has already ignited sweet memories of those golden days when we would go to a store and shout, ” three by two”. oh.. gone are those days when, as the highest denimination, the K2 was so scarce that when one has it…. geeese! gone are the days when a lion lager was bought by ngwees (coins) and not by thousands of kwachas…. gone are the days when a three ngwee bus ticket would take you on a round robin trip of kitwe… gone.. gone.. gone are the good days. hope you bring back supaloaf bakery as well. anyway congrats.
Please let the coins there be
1 ngwee, 2 ngwee, 5 ngwee, 10 ngwee, 20 ngwee, 50 ngwee and 1 Kwacha like they have in the UK
1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p and £1
As for the notes please avoid big note K100 because criminals like drug dealers and money laundering find it easier to move huge cash. Let K50 be the largest denomination.
In the UK they have notes £5, £10, £20 and £50. I have never seen a £100. I wonder if they have them.
Just sharing with you what we have experienced somewhere else. Those in other countries may tell their stories. I hope bwana DG is listening to contributions from the public.
The road from south to north Botswana is good and fast. You have two options when you reach the north/east edge of Botswana. You can cnnoitue on the bus directly over the bridge to Kazungula in Zambia, and from there to Lusaka. Or you can enter Zimbabwe and take a taxi through Zambezi National Park to Victoria Falls. From there you walk across the bridge to Zambia and take a taxi to Livingstone. Bus from Livingstone to Lusaka is non-stop 8 hours.I strongly recommend to make some stop-overs. Try Vic Falls, even though the Zimbabwe visa on arrival is 30 USD. Taxi from the border to the town is 30 USD (45 minutes drive) through the amazing Zambezi National Park. And Victoria Falls is just great.
when asked when they say they dont know…..very ma rubissh!!!!!!!!!
I thought the 50ngwee coin waz a 12 sided polygon?
I still have a 1ngwee and a 5ngwee. So K1,000,000 + 6ngwee = what?
Go back to school if you cant do simple addition
Go back to nite school with Ukwa…… So u only know 1+1=2 try 1 – 2 = it cant
Bollocks! Do you know that it costs more to make a coin than the actual monetary value of the coin? Western countries are actually re-thinking the need to even have coins!
Hmm but the Brits tried to do away with and have had to rethink the £5 and reintroduce it through the system. Can’t see the coins going any time soon though switching to chip and pin helps. There’s only so much one can do before the theory hits hard reality. Let’s see how it goes as the highest denomination could phase out. There is a $100 bill too but as I am no economist folks could well be right.
Oh at long last! I found it hard to count ZMK when I was on holiday last time.Makes a lot os sense too.
I think its a good idea.We desparating need more of good ideas/policies
desparately!
twenty ngwee used to be awesome when I was in 1st grade.
I still have a couple of those Princess. Will save one for you for nostalgia’s sake:)
I CAN’T WAIT TO HOLD THOSE COINS WITH PRIDE AS A ZAMBIAN. TWASEBANA PAFULA
Ice_Road_Trucker, There’s R200 in South Africa and P200 in Botswana which is equivalent to about new K140 so I think a new K100 will be quite in order.
A Phiri @25. Please do. would love to have one. I have a K20 note from way back.
Sing with me this old song from the Copperbelt (Kitwe) which we sang as young ones:
Kaunda alilandile cacine, Kaunda alilandile cacine.
Kukesa ndalama shama ngwee, Kukesa ndalama shama ngwee. Kwacha ngwee, nama ngwee, Kwacha ngwee, nama ngwee! Don’t forget to put back KK’s head!!!
Here in Ghana people still use ‘old denomination’ to count even if it’s 3 yrs ago when they rebased. Eg. one wud first say this is 20pin when s/he is refereing to 20. Lots of education is needed, I agree …
Why didnt Zimbabwe debase instead of resorting to US Dollar?Someone make me understand this concept of debasing.When does it apply and when does it not?
Debasement is the practice of lowering the value of currency.
you village county, what are you doing there OF ALL PLACES? i know you will start by telling me that the economy there is blah blah… but the thing is … mmm in case of something… i mean the evacuation side od]f the all thing is quiet dicy here. west africa? LOL.
But how shall we carry them n whose pockets shall they harrase. Just have the same value in kwacha.
the highest denomination in the uk is £50 while in the US its a $100.so having a k100 wl nt be unsual.gud move bt can some boz guy tell us wat there ar doing abt the freescoring kwacha heading for 6pin to a dollar.
BOZ has misfired. Not having 1 ngwee is removing the current K1,000 note. You do not need to be an economist to know that prices will go up. Introducing K100,000 also has negative consequences. BOZ please wake up and be productive. Was the guy giving an official statement or his own views?
I dont remember that 50 Ngwee on the picture, the one i remember was dodecagonal in shape the one above is round it must have been an earlier one. There must be a difference between the 20 Ngwee and the 50 Ngwee. Looking forward to seeing the new currency.
i can see some of thoses Indian shop keepers getting caught out with this as they don’t pay taxes or use bank accounts they only handle cash , lets see how the explain to banks where they got there millions from without paying cash as for those who hide money in the ground it’ll turn into maize now
coins are very expensive to make.canada has decided to phase out these coins,why zed is going back to an expensive venture.it would have better to start,paper form of ,k5,k10,20,50 &100.BOZ think seriously on the coin issue.gud commt from #20.
No need to get excited about the coins.. More home accidents! some children will be swallowing the small coins that they may come accross.
Bane mulebako serious pa ma issues yaifyo mwaumfwa
I think K100 is misplaced. It will confuse people particularly villagers as we do not K100,000. I say so because the old currency will run HAND IN HAND with the new. So people mentall will be doing a lot of mathematics to understand the value. E.g. K50,000 = K50, K20,000 = K20, K10,000 = K10, K5,000 = K5, K1000 = K1, K500 = 50 ngwee, K100 = 1 ngwee. In short, it will division by 3 or multiply by 3. Now the question is: Which money will move with K100 since we do not have K100,000 as a single denomination? My lame thinking anyway. Am thinking on behalf of my grand father in the village before he is conned.
tusheni mwebantu,relax plz relax mwaunfwa
What has happened to Mushota? Can someone please tell me? I am missing her comments.
She is pregnat, can’t stay at the computer terminal for too long without throwing up—- kekekekeke, just jocking!!!!!
Amazing this is a invaluable site.
@Ice_Road_Trucker:
I hear you!
Here in the USA we have coins:
1 cent (called a Penny),
5 cents (Nickle),
10 cents (Dime),
25 cents (Quater)
Notes (paper money):
$1
$2 (scarce but do exist)
$5
$10
$20
$50 (Not very sure about this one, but I think it does exist)
$100 $1000 (not in public domain but used to conduct business between financial institutions such as banks)
Anyway, bring back coins is very good idea for Zambia. Whether that will improve the value of our currency is another story!!
Sorry, it is only the $1000 note that is not in the public domain. The $100 is. Simply forgot to press the key.
Thanks!
Amazing, this is a advantageous website.