The Bank of Zambia maintained its Monetary Policy Rate at 14.50% after hiking it by 50 basis points each at its last meetings in February and November, to tame consumer inflation, which sits well above the bank's 6%-8% target range.

The country's annual inflation rate was at 16.5%  in April, unchanged, from the previous month.

"The forecast over the next eight quarters shows that inflation will decline faster towards the 6-8% target band than projected in February," central bank Governor Denny Kalyalya told a press conference.

Inflation is projected to average 13.5% this year, whereas at the central bank's last monetary policy meeting in February the forecast was for average inflation of 14.6%.

Zambia revised its 2024 economic growth to 4%, up from the previous forecast of 1.2% given in February, after a higher than expected economic performance following a severe drought.

--Reuters--