BANK OF ZAMBIA PAYS OUT FOREIGN CURRENCY ARREARS
The Bank of Zambia has paid out foreign
exchange arrears from three auctions conducted last year, a
bank spokesman said.
    "We have now cleared three auctions and are left with only
four, worth eight mln dlrs," the spokesman said without
specifying the amount paid out.
    The bank had not paid foreign exchange to private firms
since it suspended the weekly auctions on January 28.
    It has said the auctions were suspended because it planned
to introduce a modified system after talks with the World Bank
and the International Monetary Fund.
    President Kenneth Kaunda announced last month that the
auction would be retained for allocating foreign exchange to
approved private sector bidders, but would not be used to
determine the kwacha's exchange rate.
    Last week, he said the auction had run into trouble because
of a shortage of foreign exchange.
    The government has fixed the exchange rate at nine kwacha
per dollar, effectively revaluing the kwacha by 67.7 pct.
 REUTER
