Zambia's economy expected to grow by 3.7%

Cape Town - Zambia's economy is expected to grow by 3.7% this year, largely stable from last year and is seen expanding by more than 4% in 2017, the deputy finance minister said on Wednesday.

Christopher Mvunga also said the central bank had not intervened in the market to stabilise the struggling kwacha by selling dollars.

Mvunga said in an interview at a mining conference in Cape Town: "We're not using reserves by any means to stabilise the kwacha, absolutely not".

The World Bank has said Zambia's GDP growth will fall below 4% this year due to a combination of domestic and international pressures but expansion in Africa's second-largest copper producer will pick up in subsequent years.