Zambia - Money

Since the liberalization of the kwacha in the early 1990s Zambia has suffered from a permanently high level of inflation . In part due to the influx of imports to modernize Zambia's recently privatized copper mines, the kwacha lost 40 percent of value to the U.S. dollar in 2000. Zambia's inflation has resulted in its coinage being more valuable as pieces of metal than at face value. In consequence, notes are the population's source of cash. Due to expensive and scarce credit facilities, Zambia's domestic trade is generally undertaken using cash.

Zambia has a single stock exchange, the Lusaka Stock Exchange (LuSE). The LuSE opened in 1994. By 1997 it had benefitted from increased trading volumes, and its capitalization value was US$502 million. At the outset of 2000 it listed 15 companies. The national Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulates Zambia's stock market.

Exchange rates: Zambia
Zambian kwacha (K) per US$1
Jan 2001	4,024.53
2000	3,110.84
1999	2,388.02
1998	1,862.07
1997	1,314.50
1996	1,207.90
SOURCE: CIA World Factbook 2001 [ONLINE].

GDP per Capita (US$)
Country	1975	1980	1985	1990	1998
Zambia	641	551	483	450	388
United States	19,364	21,529	23,200	25,363	29,683
South Africa	4,574	4,620	4,229	4,113	3,918
Dem. Rep. of Congo	392	313	293	247	127
SOURCE: United Nations. Human Development Report 2000; Trends in human development and per capita income.