BoZ maintains policy rate at 9.25 % for January 2013

The Bank of Zambia (BoZ) has maintained the policy rate at 9.25 per cent for January 2013.

BoZ Head of Public Relations Kanguya Mayondi said the monetary policy committee of the central bank at its meeting today noted the influence of seasonal factors on prices of key consumer items during the first quarter deciding to maintain the policy rate.

Mr. Mayondi said the committee took into account factors such as the higher demand for meat products and lower supply of fish following the fish ban which came into effect on December 1 and the reduced supply of some vegetables such as onion, rape, and tomatoes among others.

He said the other factor was the reduced supply of charcoal as access to production points and the processing of the commodity become more challenging.

He said there may be upward risks to inflation arising from the lagged effects of the recent exchange rate depreciation.

Mr. Mayondi however noted that inflationary pressures may be moderated by increased supply of maize to the millers by the Food Reserve Agency (FRA).

He said in this regard, the committee weighed these risks and concluded that some of the factors that may affect inflation in January 2013 are transitory in nature.

Mr. Mayondi said it was because of this that the committee decided to maintain the policy rate at 9.25 per cent.

This was contained in a media statement made available to ZANIS in Lusaka today.

ZANIS