BoZ notes increased financial activities
… But regret the low saving culture of saving ams and blames it on financial illiteracy among people
By Francis Maingaila
Kafue (23-03-19) The Central Bank has noted the stead increase in the financial activities taking place in the country.
Deputy Bank of Zambia governor in charge of Operations and Registrar of Banks and Financial Institutions, Bwalya Ngandu told journalists in Kafue during the Financial Exhibition Tour that, one of the appreciable improvement is the increased number of people using digital mobile platforms.
“The most interest gadget is the mobile phone. People now are beginning to transact a lot using the mobile phone androids are able to transfer money between wallets and transfer as they wish.”
He also disclosed that there is an increase in the number of ssvings using proper saving accounts.
He however, regretted that there are not so many people that have developed the culture of saving in Zambia.
One of the challenges this economy is faced with is that people in general don’t save. We are not good at saving …. we are very good at consuming but not saving but we are beginning to see an increase in the number of people that who saving.”
He attributed this positive development to the financial institutions themselves responding to the complaints the people who are saving have made about the saving account.
He observed that in the past the people who have accounts with various banks have complained that, their money have been consumed by bank charges.
As a result of this process, the central bank had challenged the banks to come up with the saving products that reflect the spirit of savings.”
He observed that most of the savings now don’t carry charges although the banks have put restriction on the number clients cam withdraw money from their accounts.
Definitely there is an increase, I think a lot of this is owed to the role the technology is playing, particularly the mobile telephone.”
In order to encourage the people to saving, Dr. Ngandu proposed to invest in educating the people on the importance and values of money.
Dr. Ngandu is of the view that once the people have learnt the importance of money matters, including the values of saving, more and more people begin to save.
He said it is too late to begin teaching people in their old age due values of saving.
He said the central bank will put a proposal to the ministry of education to make some modifications to the curriculum so that money matters are taught in schools at primary and secondary school levels.
It is too late to convince a person who has lived 50 years to begin saving. Some of them will do it while others will not.
By the time they get to the university or college level, will already have some knowledge about how the money work, the importance and values of savings.
Meanwhile Dr. Ngandu hinted the challenge of little circulation of money in the economy.
There are different reasons why there is liquidity might dry up in the economy. Prominent among them being that the players are not paying. If there is no payment made by certain key players in the economy there is no currency to circulate in the economy and this has always been the main problem to problem of liquidity in the economy.