In its latest report the International Monetary Fund lowered its estimate for world growth for 2015 by 0.3 pp to 3.1%, with the developed and emerging economies expected to perform differently. The pick-up in activity continues in the advanced economies, underpinned by favourable financing conditions and low commodities prices, while inflation is running at very low rates. In most of the emerging economies, activity continues to fall, owing not only to conjunctural reasons in the international environment, but also to more structural factors, such as lower productivity gains and demographic factors. Activity continued to slow in the emerging Asian economies, while in Latin America it is stabilising at very low rates, albeit with notable differences from country to country; in turn, in some cases, inflation stands above the authorities’ targets, due partly to the depreciation of their currencies. Of particular significance for the world economy are the developments in China, which posted an annualised rate of GDP growth of 6.9% in the third quarter. That entails a slowdown, but one milder than anticipated. However, uncertainty over its medium-term growth rate persists bearing in mind the authorities’ intention to lead the Chinese economy towards a more sustainable and more domestic consumption-led model. The consequences of the slowdown on the world economy, mainly via the effect of the decline in commodities prices on exporting countries’ economies, are so far projected to be limited.
Denny H Kalyalya: Expansion of Zambia’s banking sector Remarks by Dr Denny H Kalyalya, Deputy Governor-Operations of the Bank of Zambia; at the official opening of Bank of China’s new premises, Lusaka, 9 December 2008. *  *  *  • Honourable Minister of Finance and National Planning, Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane, MP; • His Excellency – the Chinese Ambassador to the Republic of Zambia; Mr. Li Qiangmin; • Managing Director of the Bank of China (Zambia) Limited; Mr Du Qiang; • Distinguished Invited Guests; • Ladies and Gentlemen. I am greatly honoured for having been invited to speak on the occasion of the official opening ceremony of Bank of China’s new premises. Ladies and Gentlemen As part of the on-going Zambia-Chinese relationship, the Bank of China was established in 1997. Since then the Bank has recorded tremendous progress. Distinguished Invited Guests During the past 8 years, the overall financial performance and condition of the banking sector has been satisfactory. The sector has continued to expand and we anticipate increased economic and investment activity in the period ahead. Banks are expected to continue to provide the required level of finance to consolidate the economic gains registered so far. The Bank has achieved tremendous growth since its inception in 1997. During the last eleven years, total assets have increased by 325% to K507.9 billion in October 2008 from K13.8 billion in December 1997. Regulatory capital increased by about 1,000% to K41.9 billion in October 2008 from K3.8 billion December 1997.