Following the launch of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy in 2017, new informal financial service providers have emerged, such as, village banks and savings groups in both the rural and urban areas. As both formal and informal financial service providers are agents of financial inclusion it is important for us, the regulators, to seek effective ways of linking the two types of players with a view to reducing informality as we expand financial inclusion. Distinguished Guests, in recognition of the importance of formal financial inclusion in supporting economic growth, the Bank of Zambia is collaborating with SaveNet, to 1  KEYNOTE SPEECH BY DR DENNY KALYALYA, GOVERNOR, BANK OF ZAMBIA AT THE 2019 WORLD SAVINGS DAY EVENT ON 31ST OCTOBER 2019 AT THE INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL, LUSAKA  develop channels to link informal savings groups to formal financial services providers. According to SaveNet data, at the end of 2018 there were 15,700 savings groups in Zambia, with cumulative savings amounting to K53.1 million. This points to a good opportunity for the formal financial service providers to mobilise deposits. In this regard, it has been observed that a number of regulated financial service providers and mobile money operators have already started designing products aimed at tapping into this market. It is hoped that this move will expedite the transition of informal groupings into the formal financial sector and enable more people gain access to a wider range of quality and affordable financial services.
Secondly, inflation expectations rose steadily – albeit from a low level – particularly in the UK and the US (cf. chart 2b). This trend was reinforced by the outcome of the US election, which fuelled expectations of a more expansionary fiscal policy and a stronger increase in US government debt. The rise in yields also reflects higher risk premia caused by generally heightened uncertainty surrounding the future course of US fiscal and monetary policy. Page 1/7  Berne, 15 December 2016 Andréa M. Maechler  News conference  Thus, the increase in yields was particularly pronounced in the US. Ten-year US government bonds recently stood at around 2.5%, 1 percentage point up from mid-year. By contrast, yield increases in Japan and Europe were on a smaller scale. Yields on ten-year Swiss Confederation bonds recently stood at –0.1%, half a percentage point up from mid-year. Approximately 60% of outstanding Confederation bonds are currently still generating negative yields, compared with around 95% at the end of June. The global rise in yields has led to a reduction in the share of negative-yielding government bonds worldwide from over 30% at the end of June to around 20% most recently. Although this trend can be seen as a step towards normalisation on the bond markets, it is important to recognise that higher US yields and the associated appreciation of the US dollar could become a burden for some emerging economies.