b)  Credit Reference Law and Services  Following the issuance of the Credit Reference Services (Licensing) Guidelines and the Credit Data (Privacy) Code, the Bank of Zambia has drafted the Credit Reference Law. The draft law is currently undergoing legal review and is expected to be effected in the course of next year. Meanwhile, the licensed credit reference bureau – Credit Reference Bureau Africa Limited (CRBAL) has not yet commenced operations as some commercial banks are yet to provide the required data to the CRBAL. c)  The National Payment Systems Law  The National Payment Systems Law has been enacted and became effective on 15 June 2007. The Law is intended to mitigate the shortcomings that were in the legal framework and provide legal backing to international best practices in the payment systems. To all of you gathered here, I would like to implore you, not to only inform the public about these and other developments but to interpret what these mean to ordinary Zambians. It is only when ordinary Zambians, who are the key stakeholders, have an unquestionable understanding of these developments that they shall fully support our developmental policies and strategies. Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to remind you that our quest for development will in no doubt be without challenges. The continued higher and unstable international oil prices poses one of the strong challenges to our targeted growth of 7% this year and end year inflation of 9%.
Furthermore, in 2009, the Government approved the extension to the initial five-years of the FSDP in order to continue the national strategy of strengthening our financial sector and enhancing financial inclusion. The second phase of the FSDP will focus on three main pillars namely: (i) enhancing market infrastructure; (ii) increasing competition; and (iii) increasing access to finance. Overall, the vision is to have a dynamic and inclusive financial sector that supports all aspects of the economy. Therefore, the theme for this workshop and exhibition “Enhancing Financial Access for Women: A Tool for Poverty Reduction” is timely and appropriate. Our aim is to recognise and heighten awareness of women’s issues within this context. More specifically, the main objective of this forum is to showcase a variety of financial services and products available and sensitize the general public on: (i)  how financial institutions are contributing to increasing gender financing in Zambia;  (ii)  bringing awareness to the women on the opportunities that are available for them to access finance and mitigate related challenges;  (iii)  the role of the Bank of Zambia and other financial institutions in meeting the objective of financial inclusion;  (iv)  how the United Nations as the lead international organisation and other local agencies are supporting women in Zambia; and  (v)  sharing experiences in running businesses, and the opportunities and challenges in accessing finance in order to grow the income base.