Zambia's central bank has resumed buying forex this year after a four-month halt, The Post newspaper reported Wednesday.

Denny Kalyalya, the deputy governor of the Bank of Zambia, was quoted as saying here Tuesday that no intervention will reverse the appreciation of kwacha in the short term.

Appearing before the Parliamentary Committee on Economic Affairs and Labor, Kalyalya said the resumption of purchases aimed to stabilize the market.

"So far, we have bought 49.5 million U.S. dollars since the beginning of the year," he said.

He said much as the kwacha's deep appreciation was a matter of concern, the business community will have done well to heed the advice dating to 2000.

"When Zambia reached the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) decision point in 2000, we advised that people start preparing because from the experience of other countries that had reached the HIPC completion point, their currencies had appreciated," he said.

But perhaps, being used to working with a depreciating currency, it was difficult for people to be convinced.

He said although the appreciation has been described as bad, it helped the country manage the maize deficit and fuel crisis last year, when Zambia had to import maize to ease famine and fuel after its sole refinery underwent a prolonged closure.

"Had we not had enough foreign currency, the exchange rate would have worsened," Kalyalya said.

On mines, he said the impact of the appreciation is partly mitigated by record prices on the international market, said Kalyalya.

The exchange rate of kwacha to the dollar now is 3,200 against one dollars compared to 4,700 to one dollar a year ago.

Source: Xinhua