Lower middle-income countries are those with per capita gross national incomes (GNIs) of between US $ and US $ per year; while upper middle-income countries are those with GNIs between US $ and US $ This status reflects the continued economic growth that has been registered in the recent years.   Zambia’s reclassification as a middle income country would enhance investor confidence and further boost the investment climate thereby creating jobs and wealth for the people. In terms of financing, it should be noted that with the new arrangement, the government would be able to access more non concessional financing which remain key for infrastructure development necessary for economic development. This is in contrast with the previous status whereby Zambia could only access limited concessional financing which attracted very low interest rates and payable after a long time.   Despite the positive reclassification, it should be noted that the disparity between the poor and the rich would always be there and do exist even in developed countries. The challenge for the Government is to implement policies that will redistribute wealth so that inequality is reduced.   Nevertheless, with reclassification, it shows that the Government has been working very hard to accelerate economic growth, which is a necessary for economic development.   On average, people have been pulled out from poverty as per capita income has risen from US $ in 2000 to over US $ in 2010.
  Performance of the mining sector increased following higher output arising from increased capacity utilisation at various mines and investments into operations at various mines. Metal mining was the main driver of this growth, with copper and cobalt output growing by 17.4% and 49.4% to 819,159.19 mt and 8,781 mt, respectively.   Construction output was driven by increased public and commercial infrastructure projects around the country, as well as continued high demand for housing. This was supported by expansion in domestic production of cement. Inflation   Consistent with the favourable performance in economic growth, the country has succeeded in lowering inflation. Inflation has declined from 17.2 percent in 2003, 9.9 percent in 2009 and stood at 7.9 percent at end-2010. Inflation continued to be moderate, and stood at 9.0 percent as at June 2011.   The decrease in inflation over the years can be attributed to prudent monetary policy and a relatively stable exchange rate. The increase in food supply, arising from the favourable crop harvest, has also been a key factor in moderating inflationary pressures in light of high and increasing prices of petroleum products due to high international oil prices. BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  Interest rates   Interest rates have generally been on a declining trend in line with the fall in inflation and yield rates on Government securities. This trend was broken as a result of the financial crisis in 2008.