• The new President is pro-business.
• Offshore players are looking at the development as positive for business.
• The currency depreciated by 0.3 percent up to about Wednesday last week.

An Economist has attributed the appreciation of the Kwacha to change in sentiments following the change of government.
Speaking in an interview with Money FM News, Dr. Patrick Chileshe stated that this is because offshore players are looking at the development as positive for business.
Dr. Chanda said the country is likely to see more offshore investors coming into the market especially to invest in government bonds.
“The new President is pro-business, and what has happened is that offshore players are looking at the development as positive for business and there is likelihood that we are going to see more offshore investors coming into the Zambian market especially in government bonds.”
“We have a government bond auction next week, and what we are likely to see is an increase in the number of offshore players in the Zambian market and that could have a positive impact on the supply,” Dr. Chileshe said.
He added that as a result of the positive sentiments, those who were holding dollars are trying to offload them in order to reduce the loss they are likely to face if the Kwacha appreciates more.
Meanwhile, Dr. Chileshe observed that last week the currency was on the back foot as it depreciated by 0.3 percent up to about Wednesday.
“The positive developments we only saw them yesterday, and it seems the momentum has continued into today. We should actually see more positive developments going forward, especially as we approach the bond auction which is going to take place next week,” he added.
Today, the currency has opened the market trading at K18.95 Ngwee and K19.31 Ngwee on the bid and offer respectively.