Obsessive monetary and currency tools have the potential to trigger a crisis in the banking sector

Green party President Peter Sinkamba says obsessive monetary and currency tools in the country have the potential to trigger a crisis in the banking sector and subsequently shrink the economy further.

Mr Sinkamba tells Q-News that this is evidenced from statistics which indicate that the economy has shrunk from about US$28 billion in 2013 to US$19billion in 2017.

He says the rapid and sharp shrink is a direct consequence of fanatical monetary and currency tools relied upon by the central bank since 2013 to stabilize the Kwacha.

Mr. Sinkamba says if the Government is serious about growing the economy, reducing the budget deficit and reversing the banking sector crisis, there should be a complete overhaul of the policy tools.

He says Banks are literary surviving on salaried loans and treasury bills and declining project financing for SMEs because loan defaults are becoming endemic as contractors and suppliers are not paid on time.