The annual overall inflation at 16.8% was also 6.1 percentage points below the end-February 2003 inflation outturn of 22.9%. Broad money •  Preliminary data indicate that broad money (M3)1 growth slowed down to 1.4% (8.4% in December 2003) to K4,530.7 billion in January 2004 from K4,467.9 billion in December 2003. This growth was 1.0 percentage points lower than the 2.4% recorded during the corresponding period in 2003, but was 0.4 percentage points above the programmed money supply growth of 1.0% for the month. •  The growth in broad money during the period under review was largely on account of the increase in net foreign assets of the banking system, which increased by 2.9% to K2,364.9 billion. •  Year-on-year broad money growth on the other hand declined by 1.2 percentage points to 22.2% in January 2004 from 23.4% in December 2003. Domestic credit •  1  Preliminary data show that growth in domestic credit slowed down to 2.3% (3.1% in December 2003) to K4,310.9 billion in January 2004 from K4,215.1 billion in December  Broad money is here defined to include currency outside banks, demand deposits at Bank of Zambia and commercial banks, local currency savings and time deposits, and foreign currency deposits. BIS Review 27/2004  1  2003. This was mainly attributed to the decline in borrowing by the public sector to negative 4.0% from 22.5%.
In this regard, a month has been provided for commercial banks’ training ending 5 May 2004. All banks are reminded to ensure that they submit names of nominated officers to the Assistant Director - Payment Systems as soon as possible to enable the training to start according to schedule. Piloting of the RTGS system •  The piloting of the system is scheduled to commence on 27 April 2004. It is therefore cardinal that the entire industry moves in unison on this project. As indicated to commercial banks at the last meeting, the training of both Bank of Zambia and commercial banks staff and the execution of the pilot project have been arranged close to each other to enable the quick and effective transfer of acquired skills to staff’s “desks” or operational areas. Therefore, the need for all banks to move at the same pace cannot be over emphasised. Counterfeits •  We would like to alert you all that there are people trying to encash counterfeit notes and as banks you are the most vulnerable. It is therefore incumbent upon all of your members of staff to be vigilant when handling incoming cash. The incidence of the counterfeits is suspected to affect other locations beyond Lusaka as such even your outlying areas must be alerted. You should urgently report such cases to the Zambia Police Service.