Low-income workers in emerging markets, for example, may find it more difficult to adapt, given weaker safety nets and fewer financial resources available to deal with adverse economic shocks. The bigger the adjustment process, the more the gains from trade will tend to be eroded. While the rise in the skill premium from trade liberalization has been well established for both developed and developing countries, determining the aggregate impact of trade on jobs has been more challenging. To date, the evidence has been mixed. We need further research in this area to determine with more confidence a reasonable range of estimates for these employment effects. Although evidence of the extent to which jobs have been lost due to global trade is inconclusive, job losses that are attributed to trade tend to be viewed differently. That is, they are seen as having been “lost to foreigners” and are often viewed as a consequence of the policy decision to liberalize trade in the first place. The challenge of adjusting to open trade is a serious issue that has not received the degree of attention it fully deserves. This may partly reflect the fact that the burden has been borne unequally and spread out over a long time period. It also may reflect the fact that the winners from trade have often tended to have a stronger voice than those who have been the losers. Research has documented that the effects on individuals of job dislocation—including those resulting from trade—can be significant and long lasting.
Given the improved economic performance, it has become necessary to re-align and configure our currency in line with macroeconomic fundamentals. The currency rebasing exercise will have implications on businesses in the economy including changes to accounting software, tax aspects, ATMs, cash registers, etc. The success of the currency rebasing exercise will largely depend on our partnership with the commercial banks. Ladies and gentlemen, as you will note all these measures are aimed at improving efficiency conduct of business in our economy and commercial banks have a very crucial role to play in all these. The expectation is that all of you represented here will support the central bank to ensure that collectively, we build a financial sector that is modern and responsive to the needs of our economy. Chairperson, as a central bank, we will continue to foster an environment where dialogue between all key stakeholders can be promoted both at individual bank level as well as at Industry level. Despite the policy changes embarked on, there remains a lot to be done in the areas of financial inclusion, financial education and consumer protection in the banking  2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  industry. In this regard, the Bank of Zambia has developed branchless banking frameworks and a national strategy for financial education in partnership with other stakeholders. As a regulator, we are committed to ensure an open and competitive banking environment.