BANK of Zambia (BoZ) Governor Dr Denny Kalyalya says President Hakainde Hichilema has restored the autonomy of the Central Bank.

And Dr Kalyalya says financial discipline is the hallmark of macro stability.

In an interview, Dr Kalyalya said he was privileged to have been re-appointed as BoZ Governor.

He said during the previous administration, there had been a disturbance on the autonomy of BoZ.

“I am greatly honoured; it is a rare privilege to be re-appointed twice and by different Presidents. So I am greatly honoured. One of the major things underlying this which perhaps is not quite seen, there was some disturbance on the autonomy of the Central Bank so I think what the President has done is really to restore that,” Dr Kalyalya said.

“So it goes beyond me, it is bigger than me, it is institution building. So by making me go back is to say ‘no, this needs to be restored’. So, we will continue obviously to do our part as an autonomous institution but obviously working very closely with the government on the targets that have been set.”

And Dr Kalyalya said he was glad that government was committed to ensuring financial prudence because it was the hallmark of financial stability.

“The bank had already been doing quite a number of things so it is my hope and prayer that now there will be better signage between the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Zambia. I think someone did point out the issue of complementarity between monetary policy and fiscal policy. It is our expectation that this now will become a reality. If you look at our various statements that we were issuing when I was there, we were always bemoaning the fact that the fiscal consolidation was not in a good place. Now the Minister and the President are very keen to ensure that there is financial prudence, financial discipline, that is a hallmark of macro stability. So macro-stability is going to be very much pronounced in the work that we will be doing. Along with the financial stability,” said Dr Kalyalya.

“You see, they have already dismantled some of the areas which were due to the financial sector. We are very grateful because it will help stabilise the financial sector and it will go a long way in beginning to address the high cost of doing business. We will also push the agenda for financial inclusion and digital payments will be very much stepped up. And covid has taught us that that is extremely important.”