THE continued weakening of the Zambian Kwacha against the United States dollar and other major convertible international currencies is harmful to cross border business, Livingstone Cross Border Traders Association Chairperson Simon Chande has said.
Mr Chanda said there was need for the Government to find a lasting solution because the weakening Kwacha was negatively affecting the businesses of cross border traders.
In an interview in Livingstone yesterday, Mr Chande said the business of cross border traders was mainly concentrated on imports and it was currently expensive to import products in view of a weak Zambian Kwacha.
He said cross border trade was currently at verge of collapse in Livingstone because the dollar rate had risen beyond their expectations.
Mr Chande said government must ensure that there was a stable exchange rate because their business largely depended on foreign exchange earnings.
“If the Dollar keeps rising, our businesses will collapse. Government must ensure that the Dollar exchange rate is stabilized otherwise we are in problems,” Mr Chande said.
Mr Chande said the recent off-loading of the Dollar by the Bank of Zambia on the market was not a solution but a receipt of inflation for the country.
“The off-loading of the Dollar on the market by Bank of Zambia will just bring inflation levels high. What the government must do is to ensure that our Kwacha against the Dollar is stabilized otherwise us as Cross boarder traders will not be realizing any profit,” Mr Chande said.
He said a large number of people in the trade were women who were either single or widowed, and were taking care of orphans and vulnerable children.
“The situation is bad because most of the people who go across the borders from here in Livingstone are women and they have families to look after.
“They are either single or widowed and they are taking care of orphans and vulnerable children. So the Government must find a solution to this problem,” Mr Chande said.
This week, the central bank said increased demand for imports for capital goods had contributed to the loss of value of the Kwacha against major international currencies.
The Central bank also noted that apart from the demand for import, Zambia’s increased integration with the world economy has had an impact on the performance of the local currency.
WAPYA MUNZI !!!!!
awe mwandi..
They used to sing ‘donchi kubeba’, I suppose their tune has now changed.
Most likely they are dancing in reverse, only that it is without sound at the moment and not in the streets but at their homes.
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Sure, its now cheaper to buy cooking oil, sugar and soap from Shoprite than from these guys and traffic across the Victoria falls boarder has reduced. At the current dollar rate, their prices will be far more than that you find in Shoprite. Poor economic planning trickling down to the kaponya PF cadres in the streets.
Determinants of Zambian Exchange Rates:
Exchange rates are determined by the demand and supply of a particular currency as compared to other currencies. There are numerous factors that determine the exchange rate between two countries. Aside from factors such as interest rates and inflation, the exchange rate is one of the most important determinants of a country’s relative level of economic health. Exchange rates play a vital role in a country’s level of trade, which is critical to most every free market economy in the world. For this reason, exchange rates are among the most watched, analyzed and governmentally manipulated economic measures. But exchange rates matter on a smaller scale as well: they impact the real return of an investor’s portfolio. Let us look at some of the…