Zambian Finance Minister, Felix Mutati said 600 000 so-called ghost farmers were removed from the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP), saving the treasury K1 billion. According to Mutati, the 1.6 million from the last farming season were littered with non-existent farmers and duplicate beneficiaries. He said the migration to a…
President Edgar Lungu says the failure by commercial banks to cut interest rates – despite the Bank of Zambia (BoZ) lowering the monetary policy rate – is thwarting government efforts to empower lower-income earners. “Sadly, we have not seen a significant interest rate reduction by commercial banks to support government…
The Bank of Zambia (BoZ) has reduced its lending rate by 150 basis points to 12.5% from 14%.The central bank also reduced the statutory reserve ratio by 300 basis points – to 12.5% from 15.5%. BoZ Governor Denny Kalyalya said prevailing high lending rates and subdued economic growth necessitated the…
An agriculture NGO claims extension officers in the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) are abusing the system. The claims by the Zambia Agriculture Rural Development Initiative (ZARDI) came amid mounting pressure to eradicate problems in FISP’s management. President Edgar Lungu said he would soon constitute a team of experts to…
