Zambia To Get Credit Rating In 2009 -Central Bank

Fundanga said J.P. Morgan, Zambia`s financial advisor, had already done the bulk of work required for the credit rating.

Zambia should receive a sovereign credit rating early in 2009 after the process stalled in part to the death of President Levy Mwanawasa in August, central bank Governor Caleb Fundanga said on Monday.

Mwanawasa, whose economic management won Zambia billions of dollars in debt relief, died after a stroke. He was replaced in October by Rupiah Banda, but a prolonged electoral dispute and anti-government riots stymied the country's economic progress.

Fundanga said J.P. Morgan, Zambia's financial advisor, had already done the bulk of work required for the credit rating.

"The next step was to conduct a detailed analysis and issue tenders for rating agencies, but that did not happen due to the difficulties in the economy arising from the death of our president," Fundanga said.

"Once the minister of finance is done with the budget (in January), the focus will shift to concluding the rating," Fundanga added.

Zambia has said it will not issue a bond after seeking a credit rating but will use the appraisal to woo foreign investors for infrastructure development rather than going into capital markets, in order to keep its foreign debt low.

Fundanga also said the Bank of Zambia (BoZ) had issued South Africa's retail bank First National Bank (FNB) a licence to open branches in Zambia, after Nigeria's Access Bank which started its operations this year.

"It's a good thing that (FNB is) coming because it is a very big and credible bank. They are coming with more than the required initial capital (12 billion Zambian kwacha; $2.43 million)," Fundanga said. ($1=4930 Zambian Kwacha)