ZAMBIAN EXCHANGE AUCTION TO RESUME AT END OF MARCH

  Zambia will reintroduce a modified
  foreign exchange auction at the end of this month as part of a
  new two-tier exchange rate, central bank governor Leonard
  Chivuno said.
      Chivuno told a press conference at the end of three weeks
  of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that
  there would be a fixed exchange rate for official transactions
  and a fluctuating rate, decided by the auction, for other types
  of business.
      The Bank of Zambia previously held weekly auctions to
  distribute foreign exchange to the private sector and determine
  the kwacha's exchange rate, but these were suspended at the end
  of January.
      President Kenneth Kaunda said at the time that he was
  suspending the auction system in view of the rapid devaluation
  and violent fluctations of the exchange rate which had
  resulted.
      Business and banking sources said another reason for
  suspending the auction was that the central bank was low on
  foreign exchange and was 10 weeks behind in paying successful
  bidders.    The kwacha stood at 2.2 per dollar when the auction system
  was first introduced in October 1985, but it slid to around 15
  per dollar by the time it was suspended 16 months later.
      Since then, Zambia has operated a fixed exchange rate of
  about nine kwacha per dollar.
  

